Previous page. Next page. Ex O’s: George Marsh, Sam Dalby and Moses Odubajo were released by Tottenham, Watford and Sheffield Wednesday while 34 year- old Jimmy Smith announced his retirement. Bradley Pritchard joined Lewes. Former Striker Ryan Jarvis has left Kings Lynn. Jarvis initially joined us on loan from Norwich in 2007 scoring six goals in 14 apps and signed for us for the 2008/2009 season and stayed until 2011 scoring 10 goals from 84 apps. He joined Northampton on loan near the end of his contract and after leaving us he joined Walsall, Torquay, York, Aldershot and Lowestoft before joining Ian Culverhouse at Kings Lynn though he never made more league apps or scored more goals for anyone else. Other departures: Ryan Allsop (Wycombe) signed from Millwall in 2012 playing 24 times, Calvin Andrew played 2(8) games on loan from Swindon in March 2012 (Barrow), Stuart Nelson signed from Brentford in 2007 and played 33 times for us (Crawley). Eric Lichaj who played for us back in 2010 on loan from Leeds was last heard of playing in the Turkish League for Fatih Karagumruk. Kenny Jackett’s father Frank (left) played for us four times after his transfer from Watford in July 1953. 9 June. Josh Coulson became the first out of contract player to find a new club when he signed a year’s contract with newly relegated Southend. Darren Pratley be came our first signing of the summer from Charlton. The 36 year-old signed a year’s contract with another year option based on appearances. Playing in midfield or defence he has four promotions in his CV first signing for Jackett when he was 21. 481(88) career appearances scoring 60 goals. Last season he played 41 times for Charlton scoring two goals. A bit worrying was he was booked eight times and sent off twice in games they lost (Hull and Blackpool). The 28 day option on new contracts being signed would have run out by today. 11 June. Ryan Jarvis joined Lowestoft Town. Chris Dagnall will join Hanley Town once his contract expires at Yeovil. Jack Payne made a return to the EFL joining Crawley from Eastleigh. During 2015/16 he played 29 games for us scoring one goal whilst on loan from Peterborough. James Brophy joined Cambridge on a three year deal. Conor Wilkinson joined Walsall on a two year contract. Danny Senda left the club to be replaced by Joe Gallen as assistant manager. His career was cut short with a back injury at the age of 26. Gallen acquired all of his coaching badges by the age of 28 and has worked with Jackett at Portsmouth, Millwall, Wolves, Rotherham(?) and QPR(?). 12 June. Simon Royce was appointed Goalkeeping Coach. He worked with Jackett at QPR. Tristan Abrahams left Newport County for a two-year deal at Carlisle. There were plenty of rumours of new signings which included ex O goalkeeper Ryan Allsop, 24 year-old QPR winger Paul Smyth, Bradford left back/winger Connor Wood, Joe Pigott at Wimbledon (he later signed for Ipswich) and Omar Beckles at Crewe. 15 June. Beckles signed a two-year deal after rejecting one from Crewe. The 29 year-old 6’3” Leytonstone born central defender played 43 times for them last season. Beckles began his career at Millwall before joining Jerez Industrial in 2010 and from there a host of non league clubs. Boreham Wood (twice), Kettering town, Billericay, Histon, Margate, AFC Hornchurch and St Albans City before his league début for Accrington Stanley in 2016, then Shrewsbury and in 2020 Crewe. He has played for Grenada four times. From Crewe Vital Football: What are Orient getting from the signing? They are getting a defender that is a really good option for League 2 that has played in League 1 for the last few years for both Shrewsbury and the Alex. He’s someone who is better as a physical defender rather than coming out with the ball and his performances will be determined by how he starts games – he can have really bad games if he makes an early mistake but can also be one of your better performers in your side if he doesn’t. Sutton, newly promoted to the EFL have to rip up their artificial pitch to comply with EFL rules. That would cost them £500k. They were linked with signing Bromley defender Joe Kizzi as were we and Cambridge. Right back 6’2” 27 year-old Kizzi made 38 appearances in the league last season for Bromley, scoring seven goals in the process. That makes the goalscoring prowess of Widdowson and Ling seem a bit poor. 16 June. Left back Connor Wood signed from Bradford on a two-year contract. Harlow born Connor started his in career non-league and represented Soham Town Rangers and Chesham United before signing for Leicester City. Wood spent two years with the Foxes before making the switch to Bradford. The full-back made over 100 outings for the Bantams, including 81 consecutive league games. Ade Azeez has signed for Dartford after a spell at Dover. He played a single game for us on loan from Wycombe in 2013. He went on loan to Torquay and Dagenham before being signed by AFC Wimbledon from where he was signed by Partick and Cambridge. He went on loan before being signed by Newport and from there loaned back to Torquay before signing for Dover. He has spent more time on the bench (153) than starting (114) scoring 36 goals. Jayden Stockley joined Charlton from Preston after being on loan to them last season. Beccles would have replaced Coulson, Pratley McAnuff and Wood Widdowson which means we need replacements for, excluding loanees, youngsters and presuming Vigouroux leaves and Happe stays, Ling, Brophy, Angol, Dennis, Johnson, Wilkinson, Dayton, Judd, Maguire-Drewe and Turley. Eleven players required. Hartlepool joined Sutton in the EFL after beating Torquay. 21 June. Happe did stay and signed a two year contract. We were linked with a year-long loan deal with 19 year-old Brentford striker Aaron Pressley. He scored 19 goals in 26 matches for their B team. Also interested were Forest Green, Wimbledon (who he later joined), Salford, Fleetwood and Stevenage. We were also linked with Boreham Wood’s 23 year-old Kabongo Tshimanga who scored 21 goals for them last season. They got him from Oxford City where he scored 37 goals in 2018/19 including a hat-trick at Tranmere in the FA Cup. Tshimanga started his career at MK Dons making his full début in November 2014 before going on to sign his first professional contract just two months later. He was loaned to Aldershot, Chelmsford, Corby, Nuneaton and Yeovil before signing for Boston. Whilst there are no stats for them according to Soccerbase he scored 8 goals in 2 apps which I find hard to believe but even more unbelievable was the 27 goals he scored for Oxford City in four apps! According to Wiki that should read 24 from 42 apps. For BW he has scored 40 goals in 85 apps making a career total of 222 apps scoring 94 times. He signed a two-year deal for them on 1 July 2019. Available then? But not likely to sign for us. Why? At Oxford he was offered the highest wages they could afford and was set to join Exeter but joined Boreham Wood as he could not be guaranteed a regular start. Prefers to play rather than high wages. More power to him. Alsopp was set to sign for Gillingham. Signing a one year deal, Lee Angol joined Bradford. In total he played 33 (13) scoring seven goals. Latest rumour is we are interested in Northampton’s Harry Smith. As he has a year to run on his contract he would command a fee. For the Cobblers he started 28(22) games scoring 11 times. They paid a fee to Macclesfield for him in May 2019. Prior to that he was on loan to Swindon from Millwall. 25 June. Paul Smyth was signed on a two-year deal from QPR. The 23 year-old started his career at Lingfield before being snapped up by QPR after scoring 14 goals in 24 matches in 2017. Rangers loaned him out to Accrington Stanley twice and Wycombe Wanderers before being loaned to Charlton last season where he scored two goals in 8(6) apps scoring twice. In total he has scored 25 goals from 77 starts and 38 from the bench. The played for Northern Ireland in June this year in a friendly in Uraine. He came off the bench in the 68’. Another striker rumour is Callum Harriot. The Reading player was on loan to Colchester last season and scored nine goals in 38 appearances. It was the second time he was loaned to the U’s. In 2015 he was loaned from Charlton and scored seven goals from 55 (8) appearances. He career total is 150(62) appearances scoring 35 goals. A goal every .18 games. Not impressive. He has played nine times for Guyana scoring a single goal. Statement from the club:The club extends its condolences to the family of Mike Burgess, who represented The O's from 1953-56. Burgess scored 12 times in his 31 appearances, before joining Newport County. This from AFC Bournemouth “We are saddened to learn of the passing of former player, Mike Burgess. Mike made 109 league appearances and topped the club's scoring charts in the 1958/59 season”. FC Halifax Town captain Nathan Clarke, 37, has decided to leave club after making 116 appearances over three seasons. 27 June. Rumour has it we are about to sign Ipswich’s Northern Irishman Aaron Drinan. The 23 year-old was signed from Cork in January 2018. The Tractor Boys loaned him to Sutton in August 2018 but in 11(10) appearances he failed to score. He had better luck returning to Ireland’s Waterford where he managed seven goals in five appearances. Swedish side GAIS took him on loan but he failed to score in nine appearances. In January last year he was loaned to Ayr scoring two goals in nine appearances. Last season for Ipswich he scored a single goal in 24 appearances which is not impressive until you realise in total for them he has started a mere eight games. He has appeared in Republic of Ireland U21’s team. 28 June. The 5’11” Drinan signed a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Only recently Ipswich took up a year’s option on his contract. Article from East Anglian Daily Times. Article on Kenny Jackett. Latest rumour is we are interested in 22 year-old Southend right back Elvis Bwomono. He made 44 appearances scoring one goal for them last season. In total since he signed for them in July 2017 he has made 123 appearances scoring three goals. He has been offered a contract by them but yet to sign. No news yet on who Ryan Allsop will sign for. Bit of news I missed three months back was that Kyprianou signed a two-year extension keeping him at the club until the summer of 2023. Aston Villa’s 19 year-old winger Tyreik Wright is also sought by Salford and Swindon but they do no have a manager and are in trouble with the FA and have not paid their staff in June. Dean Smith’s links with Ling and the club may help to sway the season long loan our way. Last year he made 13 starts for Walsall in 16 games. Callum Harriot who we were linked with is facing a rape charge. Would imagine any club wanting to sign him would leave that decision until after the trial at the end of the month. Dean Cox left Eastbourne by mutual consent. He later joined Worthing. The friendly at Harlow was cancelled by them but the match at newly promoted Dundee is on for the 6th. Beccles will miss the match having been called up by Grenada for the Concafaf Gold Cup. So will Thompson as he is still recovering. Academy players Jephte Tanga, Harrison Sodje, Daniel Nkrumah, Emmanuel Kwatchey and Shimron Eaton have all joined the first team for the trip. Bishop's Stortford have signed of former midfielder Charley Barker. Latest rumour is we are interested in Cheltenham Town’s Alfie May but haggling over the fee. The 27 year-old striker scored a dozen goals for them last season. Jamie Turley signed for Barnet. John Lundstram left Sheffield United for Rangers. George Marsh joined AFC Wimbledon. 6 July. Away at Dundee. Clay hadn’t changed and as early as the fifth minute he lost possession on the edge of the area and they went into the lead. Team: Sargent, Wood, Cissé, Happe, Smyth, Clay, Drinan, Pratley, Sotiriou, Young, Kyprianou. Kyprianou was awful and Sotiriou played a suicide ball which Sargeant rushed out to but with only Happe in the way of the goal the shot took a deflection off of him and over the bar. For us Young fired into the goalie after a fine cross from Sotiriou though it looked more like a shot to me. Smyth fired wide but showed pace. Cissé found the side netting with a header. Four minutes after half time Dundee were three up as the old defensive problems returned. No marking on the right and no marking in the middle for the second and Happe attempted to play their man offside for the third. Drinan was unlucky when his shot was blocked onto the upright. On 60’ eight changes were made as the senior players made way for youth. Team: Byrne, Kwatchev, Nkrumah, Tanga, Sodje, Eaton, Young, Papadopoulos, Sweeney, Ogie, Kyprianou. I preferred the youth. As expected balls were pumped high into the air but rarely found a forward. Former O Adam Legzdins was in the Dee goal. Later in the evening we announced the signing of Vigouroux on a two-year contract. 7 July. We signed 6’5” 26 year-old striker Harry Smith from Northampton on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee. In his career he has started 80(53) scoring 29 times. Billericay Town have signed Charlie Lee following his departure from Yeovil Town. Sam Ling joined Dagenham. Akinola has been offered a trial by Doncaster. 11 July. The club announced the death of Dave Dunmore. The Club had this to say “Dunmore represented The O’s 147 times between 1960 and 1964, and was a fans’ favourite who knew how to find the back of the net. A tall, powerful forward, Dunmore scored 54 times for The O’s and was a part of the 1961-62 promotion winning season to the First Division. During the club’s only season in the top flight of English football Dunmore was a standout player, and finished as the club’s joint-top goalscorer. Prior to his time at The O’s, Dunmore represented both West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur, having switched to the Lilywhites from York City.” He was 87. Dave was signed by York City in May 1952 from Cliftonville Minors according to this site. After scoring 25 times in 48 matches he was snapped up by Spurs in February 1954 for £10,750 and he scored 26 goals in his 81 appearances before leaving for West Ham in March 1960 in exchange for John Smith. At the Hammers between March 1960 and March 1961, he scored 18 goals in 41 appearances. Signed by Les Gore he was exchanged for Alan Sealey. He returned to York in June 1965 and scored 13 times in 61 appearances plus two as a substitute. 13 July. Friendly at home to West Ham. 0-0. A goalless first half went well with Ogie and Nkrumah impressing. Kemp’s corners were way off target whilst for me Kyprianou and Clay failed to impress. Sargeant made two fine saves to keep us in the game. Three trialists were on the bench but virtually unused. Josh Clarke started his career at Brentford playing 56(28) appearances scoring eight goals as a right back/right winger. Lee Hodson is a right back who started his career at Watford starting 83 games plus seven games as sub scoring a single goal. He has been loaned to Brentford, Kilmarnock, St Mirren twice and Hamilton as well as being signed by MK Dons, Rangers and Gillingham. The Hobbs cold be Lewis James Hobbs a centre back who played for Crystal Palace U23 and spent time at Welling and Cheshunt. Team: Vigouroux(Sargeant 61’), Ogie, Wood(Sweeney 82’), Pratley(Papadopoulos 72’), Happe, Kyprianou(Hodson* 88’), Smyth(Clarke* 75’), Kemp(Sotiriou 90′), Drinan, Clay, Nkrumah(Young 64’). Subs unused: Cissé, Hobbs*. *Denotes short-term contract. Video highlights. 17 July. Friendly at home to Spurs. 1-1. A minutes applause for Dave Dunmore. The word friendly seems to have by passed the Spurs players as a succession of Orient players were fouled and their 31 seemed to believe that shirt pulling was now legal. Maybe they were trying to impress their new manager. Pratley has yet to do anything for me to say that he is an asset to the team though with the absence of Beckles and Thompson he has played in defence. A hit and hope ball from Clay was intercepted and a good through ball found the unmarked Scarlett who put Spurs into the lead. Defence all over the place again. When Thompson and Beccles return Happe may find him self on the bench. Sotiriou was on the pitch for a matter of minutes before looking to him right, moved the ball onto his left and placed a perfect shot into the net. Team: Vigouroux, Wood, Happe, Smyth (Clarke* 68’), Clay, Kemp (Young 88’), Nkrumah (Tanga 77’), Drinan (Sotiriou 68’), Pratley ©, Ogie, Kyprianou (Papadopoulos 77’). Subs unused: Phillips, Hodson*, Cissé, Hobbs*, Sweeney. *Denotes short-term contract. Harry Smith has had to isolate. 19 July. We signed 25 year-old right back Tom James from Hibernian on a one-year contract. He started his career with Cardiff but made only one start from the bench before joining Yeovil starting 93 matches plus five from the bench scoring 8 goals. When they were relegated out of the EFL he joined Hibs on a three year contract and being in the the second year we paid an undisclosed fee for his contract. He only played 12 matches for Hibs scoring a single goal and was loaned to Wigan last season and for them he started 23 games (1) scoring three goals. He also loaned out to Salford but played only 2(2) games for them. Lots of debate as to why just a one-year contract. Does he think he is better than us and passing through or is Kenny being cautious which is strange if he has just paid for his contract. Dale Gorman signed for Yeovil from Glentoran for an undisclosed fee. 24 July. Friendly at Maidenhead. 1-2 (Pratley, Sotiriou pen). A new name in the line up, former Oldham forward Marcus Barnes but he only lasted minutes and hobbled off to be replaced by another short-term contract player in Josh Clarke. Both Ogie and Wood have long throws but it was one from James that in the O’s words “ caused mayhem in the Magpies’ penalty box. Dan Happe met the flick on, and Marcus Barnes sent a header crashing odd of the bar, only for it to fall kindly for captain Darren Pratley, who thumped a volley home. Maidenhead had nine trialists in their line-up and equalised according to one supporter, thanks to some ball watching by Ogie. Another supporter asked why Maidenhead were making so many reckless tackles for a friendly. Sweeney came on for Wood and “His positive movement saw him break into the box and wrestled to the floor, earning his side a penalty.” Sotiriou converted from the spot. Team: Vigouroux, James, Wood (Sweeney 68’), Happe, Barnes* (Clarke* 22’), Drinan (Tanga 61’), Pratley, Sotiriou, Young (Papadopoulos 68’), Ogie, Kyprianou. Subs unused: Sargeant, Eaton, Obiero. Video highlights. Youth team workout at Dulwich Hamlet on Tuesday will be followed by a home friendly against Gillingham. 27 July. Two friendlies at Dulwich which included just Sargeant and trailists Clarke and Duncan as experienced players and at Walthamstow that included all youngsters. We was a goal down at the Hamlet before a 30 yard strike from Obiero levelled the scores. Sargeant saved a penalty and Grainger and Dayton (a trialist for them) played against us. Duncan was ex QPR and Spurs midfielder Dylan Duncan. At Walthamstow the U18’s did not fare so well losing 3-0. Video highlights at Dulwich. Sam Dalby joined Southend on a two-year contract. 29 July. We signed 23 year-old left winger Theo Archibald on a season-long loan from Lincoln. He played for Celic’s U20 side before he joined Albion on loan. Joining Brentford in August in 2017 he failed to make much impression on the first team starting a single game with two from the bench. He joined Forest Green (11(10) 1 goal) on loan but two years after joining the Bees he signed for Macclesfield on a free. Starting 25 matches with eight from the bench he scored six goals. In August 2020 he signed for Lincoln but again he failed to to start all but four games whilst warming the bench eight times scoring a single goal. Moses Odubajo joined QPR after leaving Sheffield Wednesday. Alex Finney and Sendles-White were released by Aldershot. 31 July. Friendly at home to Gillingham. 2-0 (Beckles, trialist). A new trialist started, thought to be Duncan. On the quarter of the hour Kemp’s corner to the far post found Happe and his header across goal was thumped into the net by Beckles. Goalie wanted a foul but the ref was not interested. Before half time Clay found Wood on the left, his pass found the running Kemp. Kemp’s first time cross was met by the trialist 2-0, and that’s how it stayed. Clarke came on for Kemp on 80 whilst Archibald replaced the trialist on 63’. Sweeney had replaced Wood at half time. Team: Vigouroux, James, Wood (Sweeney 46), Happe, Clay, Kemp (Clarke 80), Trialist (Archibald 63), Pratley, Beckles, Sotiriou, Kyprianou. Unused subs: Sargeant, Tanga, Young, Papadopoulos, Ogie. Not much to be gleaned from this performance but the ball was getting forward a lot quicker and crosses made first time. Beckles didn’t put a foot wrong but I still don’t rate Kyprianou anymore that I do Clay, his only shot was three yards off target. No place for Cissé. Drinan, Smyth and Smith injured? Later Jackett revealed that they were injured and may not start Saturday and Cissé was in talks with another club/clubs. There would be no more new players before the start of the season. Video highlights. 3 August. U18’s away at Heybridge Swifts. 1-2 (Young, trialist). Orient’s first real effort on target proved to be a very special goal. 30-yards out, midfielder Matt Young curled a spectacular free-kick into the top corner to put the O’s in front. Adeyinka Cole equalised with eight minutes of the half to play. A lob over the top beat the Orient backline and Cole pounced to fire home the leveller. The O’s snatched victory with their final opening of the game. Jayden Sweeney, who captained his team, played Pegrum into the left channel and his low cross was right on the money – finding the trialist, who took one touch, before hammering ball into the back of the net. Team: Sargeant, Kwatchey, Sodje, Sweeney, Trialist (Clements 63’), Papadopoulos, Young, Obiero (Trialist 63’), Tanga, Clarke* (Pegrum 87’). Bench: Byrne, Ojo. 2021/2022. Back row left to right: Papadopoulos, Archibald, Ogie, Thompson, Kyprianou, Smith, Happe, Beckles, Drinan, Clay, Nkrumah, Middle row: Still, Austin, George, Royce, Sergeant, Vigouroux, Byrne, Mulligan, Manuel, Hancock, Martin. Front row: Young, James, Wood, Kemp, Gallen, Jackett, Ling, Harold, Pratley, Smyth, Sotoriou, Sweeney. McAnuff is now a mainstay pundit on Sky Sports' EFL coverage for the coming season. 7 August. Away to Salford. (1-1 Beckles). We went into the lead on 33’ thanks to Beckles with a right footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal following a corner. Four minutes from half time they levelled with a super strike. Team: Vigouroux, James, Wood, Happe, Clay, Kemp, Pratley, Beckles, Kyprianou, Drinan, Smyth. Subs: Sargeant, Archibald(Clay 51), Young, Sweeney(Wood 87), Sotiriou(Smyth 89), Ogie, Nkrumah. The attendance was under 2000 of which a quarter were O’s fans. Video highlights. BBC report. Elsewhere Cissé had joined Oldham but could not stop them losing to Newport nor Wilkinson to Tranmere. Johnson scored a late penalty as Mansfield took all the points off Bristol Rovers. Bonne scored late on to give Ipswich a point. U18’s lost 3-1 at Northampton. 1 Phillips 2 R.Pegrum 3 Sodje 4 Staerck(Ojo 65’) 5 Eaton 6 Kwatchey 7 Tanga 8 Clements 9 Smith-Kouassi 10 C.Pegrum 11 Davies. Subs: 12 Cizungu 14 Ojo 15 Agyeman 16 Koroma. Scorer Smith-Kouassi. 11 August. Home to QPR Carabao Cup. (1-1 Drinan lost on penalties 3-5). Only two changes to Saturday’s side, Smyth who had a bit of a hamstring and Clay. They were replaced by Sotiriou and Archibald. QPR seemed quicker on the ball and not easily pushed of of it. We weren’t getting a sniff and the went ahead following a corner. At the break we were better and could have had a couple of goals but no one to score them. Happe missed his second sitter of the match before Drinan equalised following a long throw from James. With three players out injured the bench was a bit light on experience. Team: Vigouroux, James, Wood, Happe, Kemp, Pratley, Beckles, Kyprianou, Archibald, Drinan, Sotiriou. Subs: Sargeant, Young, Sweeney, Clay, Ogie, Obiero, Tanga. Video highlights. Att 4071. BBC report. Colchester United signed Bryan Ifeanyi. The 17-year-old attacker has joined the U's but will spend his early days at the club playing for Maldon and Tiptree. Maguire-Drew signed a one year deal at Woking. 14 August. Home to Exeter. (3-0 Drinan, Beckles, Archibald). Sublime, classy Impeccable performances from Beckles and Pratley. Beckles got his second goal for the club following a James free kick which was turned across the goal and the oncoming Beckles turned it into the net. But not before Drinan had got his second for us in the seventh minute. Happe nodded the ball forward and he thumped it into the net. Vigouroux misjudged a tackle to give away a penalty but saved the kick and the follow up. Ex O Atatanga passed a dreadful ball and a hasty challenge warranted a second booking for. Kyprianou passed the ball down the line to Drinan whose first time cross was met by the head of Smith, on for Sotiriou, and the ball thumped against the bar. The best goal was saved till last when Kyprianou’s pass was again met with a first time cross by Drinan. It was perfect for the on running Archibald to place into the net. Team: Vigouroux, James, Wood, Happe, Kemp, Pratley, Beckles, Kyprianou, Archibald, Drinan, Sotiriou. Subs: Sargeant, Young, Sweeney(Wood 82), Clay, Ogie, Smith(Sotirou 67), Tanga. BBC report. Video highlights. One Facebook Orient forum I subscribe to thought the third goal was as good as Barrie Fairbrother’s against Luton in 1973. Enjoy this. Ex O’s elsewhere: Angol doubled his scoring rate for last season scoring one and converting a penalty to give Bradford the points. Johnson had an assist for the last goal giving Mansfield all the points. Wilkinson and Walsall failed to score/win. Connick scored for Luton. Abrahams scored the winner for Carlisle. Dayton signed for Dulwich Hamlet. Binnom-Williams signed for Maidstone. He spent last season with Barnet. U18’s beat Gillingham at home 2-1. Team:Campbell, Kwatchey, Sodje, Ojo, Eaton, Apat(Hadjini 60’), Davies, Clements, Smith- Kouassi Obiero(Harvest 60’), C.Pegrum. Subs: Cizungu, Hadjini, Staerck, R.Pegrum, Harvest. Goal: 29’ Clements, 90’ Smith-Kouassi. We signed Tyrese Omotoye on a season long loan from Norwich City. The 18-year-old Belgian born striker spent a trial period at the O’s and found the back of the net against Gillingham in the 2-0 pre-season win. We should start every season watching this video. 1881 This is our story. Or this Beautiful History. Sam Sargeant joined Barnet on a two-month loan with a 24 hour recall clause. 21 August. Away to Carlisle (1-1 Smith). A harsh penalty after eight minutes was converted by ex O Abrahams. For some reason Wood did not start and was replaced by Sweeney. It did not go well for him. Booked after 17’ he continued to foul and was replaced by Ogie at half time. He looked out of his depth according to some supporters but Ogie had a good game. With 16’ to go Drinan tapped the ball to Smith for him to chip the keeper for his first goal for the club. With 20, to go Drinan picked up an injury but as three subs were already in use he had to limp on. Team: Vigouroux, James, Sweeney, Happe, Kemp, Pratley, Beckles, Kyprianou, Archibald, Drinan, Sotiriou. Subs: Byrne, Young, Clay(James 76), Ogie(Sweeney 45), Wood, Smith(Sotirou 45), Nkrumah. BBC report. Video highlights. Elsewhere Sargeant’s début at Barnet did not go well beaten at home 0-5 to Notts County. Wilkinson, Brophy and Johnson failed to score for their new clubs. If I did not report it before Andros Townsend joined Everton, Bonne scored two for Ipswich and Maguire-Drew signed for Woking. 24 August Home to Harrogate (0-2). Dire. I will let the supporters on the forums comment on this. Totally out played by harrogate , looked like they had 15 players on the park ,or indeed us only having 9 very lacklustre by us. passing bad could hardly pick out a red shirt , bad decisions in front of goal. Ineptitude at its very best!! Or worse. Our midfield was non existent, Kemp was not involved and Kypriano had a bad game. What has happened to Kemp? Playing badly but who do we have to replace him? That’s the current problem, He is not playing well but will still start every game. No competition for places. The way we were swept aside was not only embarrassing but also demoralising. Biggest Load of poo poo for 50 Years. What really concerns me is not just that we lost but a Kenny Jackett team looking as clueless as anything I've seen over the past two years. Was a poor performance, lack of squad depth evident on the bench. The new kid from Norwich [Omotoye] barely touched the ball. our passing was poor and skilful players like Kemp and Archibald couldn’t control the ball tonight. Opinions pretty much agree. A goal down on 8’ after Kypriano ran into a space but nobody came to him to get the ball, passing to the twice marked Pratley who lost possession. This was added to on 31’, Smith missed a penalty on 51’. With injuries to Drinan (out for a couple of weeks) and Smyth (out for a month with a hamstring) the bench looked bare with three players yet to make their débuts. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Happe, Kemp, Pratley, Beckles, Kyprianou, Archibald, Omotoye, Smith. Subs: Byrne, Clay(James 76), Sweeney, Wood(Ogie 56), Sotirou(Omotoye 56), Papadopoulos, Nkrumah. BBC report. Video highlights. 28 August. Home to Bradford City. Bounce back. Somehow Happe got injured in the warm-up. He was replaced by Ogie who inturn was replaced by Wood. Sotiriou was preferred to Omotoye and Clay to Kemp. That meant there were only six on the bench. The first half was according to the BBC “a tightly-contested affair”. On 66’ Sotiriou was given the ball by James and from the tightest of angles whipped the ball into the inside of the side netting to put us in the lead. On 82’ Smith doubled the lead when Archibald took a pass from James, found Smith who fired the ball past the keeper’s outstretched right hand. If Harrogate looked promotion candidates (they are second in the table) then Bradford (third) looked relegation bound. Only two of their six shots were on target. Referee may have been sporting sky blue underpants and gave us nothing. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Wood, Pratley, Beckles, Kyprianou, Archibald, Smith, Clay, Sotiriou. Subs: Byrne, Kemp, Sweeney, Omotoye(Sotiriou 77), Papadopoulos, Nkrumah. BBC report. Video highlights. the in the table. Away to Newport next. The men that were linked with us: Tshimanga joined Chesterfield for a large fee and scored on his début and scored three in as many games. Piggot joined Ipswich and scored a penalty for them. Ex Os: Wilkingson got off the mark for Walsall. Barnet drew 1-1 but neither Widdowson or Turley featured and Thomas was on the bench. McCallum scored for Dagenham who are top of the division. Ling was substituted on 57’. Alabi came on 64’ for Bromley. Maguire-Drew scored a penalty for Woking but was still on the losing side. Rumours: We are about to sign 19 year-old centre- back Millwall defender Alex Mitchell on a season-long loan deal. He has only started ten games, all for Bromley with one ten minute appearance from the bench for Millwall. Brandon Hanlan (Bristol Rovers) was linked with us but signed a three-year deal with Wycombe Wanderers for a fee understood to be £150,000 plus add-ons. Transfer deadline is tomorrow 31st. On deadline day we signed the aforementioned Mitchell on a years loan as well as Callum Reilly who was a free agent after being released from Wimbledon following a broken ankle. The 27 year-old 6’1” midfielder signed a one-year deal. He started his career with Birmingham before moving to Burton, Coventry, Bury and Gillingham amassing 185(60) starts scoring 14 goals. He has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-21 level. Josh Wright was released by Crawley. We were linked with Bolton’s Brendan Comly but the deal fell through. We were also linked with Ipswich forward Armando Dobra but he chose Colchester. 4 September. Away to Newport (2-2 Smith 2)t. Undone by Clay. They were missing seven players following a covid outbreak. Their manager was unhappy with the players who turned down vaccines. With Sotiriou and Kyprianou on international duty changes were inevitable. Mitchell made his début whilst Drinan came back to replace the pair away. The first half hour reminded me of two boxers in the first round each sounding out each other. A corner from Archibald found the head of Smith and into the net on 34’. Thirteen minutes later Clay decided on a rash tackle in the area and they equalised. We went back into the lead on 53’ following a fine run and cross by Pratley. Again the ball found the head of Smith and into the net. Ten minutes from time they equalised when nobody picked up the run of Demetriou and he headed on a long throw which found its way into the net from close range. Their manager had be trying to sign Smith all summer. He also commented that players would be back in contention next week but whether they would play was a different matter. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Wood, Pratley, Beckles, Mitchell, Archibald, Smith, Clay, Drinan. Subs: Byrne, Reilly(Archibald 90+1), Kemp(Drinan 90+1), Sweeney, Omotoye, Papadopoulos, Nkrumah. BBC report. Video highlights. We sent a team for a friendly at Dartford and lost 3-1. We included a trialist whilst the Darts fielded three, one of which got two of their goals. George Porter and Connor Essam featured for them. tTeam:Phillips, Tanga, Sweeney, Reilly, Trialist, Sapanora, Young, Papadopoulos, Nkrumah, Kemp, Omotoye. 11 September. Home to bottom placed Oldham (4-0 Drinan, James, Archibald, Smith). Though Sotiriou and Kyprianou returned from international duty there was only one change Hapep for Ogie who had a Covid related problem. We were two up by half time. A quick break by Archibald found the Oldham defence on an away day. Archibald’s cross found the unmarked Drinan to place into an empty net on 16’. A Pratley pass to James, who was well up field, was taken on, dummied the defender and his left foot shot found the net on 27’. In the past we would have sat back with supporters on the edge of their seats, but not under this management. Archibald continued his fine display battling two defenders before clearance only went as far as a Oldham colleague and bounced into his path. A couple of paces and a shot past their keeper found the net on 75’. Smith got into the act in the first minute of added time. A fine cross from James was met with a diving header from Kemp, saved by their keeper but his parry found the incoming Smith. Team: Vigouroux, James, Happe, Wood, Pratley, Beckles, Mitchell, Archibald, Smith, Clay, Drinan. Subs: Byrne, Kyprianou(Pratley 68), Kemp(Archibald 90), Sweeney, Omotoye, Papadopoulos, Sotiriou 89). BBC report. Video highlights. Under 18’s at home to MK Dons 2-2 (Obiero 2). Team: Campbell, Reggie Pegrum (Ojo 45’), Sodje (Kwatchey 45’), Staerck, Hajdini, Apat, Tanga, Clements, Nkrumah, Obiero (80’ Davies’), Charlie Pegrum. Subs:Cizungu, Kwatchey, Ojo, Davies, Avgoustidis. Wilkinson, Turley and Cissé still injured. Johnson came on and scored, Bonne started for Ipswich and put them into the lead but they lost 2-5 to Bolton whist Brophy could only look on from the bench as his team lost 1-5 to Lincoln. 14 September. Home the Southampton U21’s in the Papa John’s Trophy (1-0 Papadopoulos. The team was mainly made up of part time players and the youth. Débuts were handed to Papadopoulos and Byrne. Kyprianou again got booked after losing control of the ball. Happe looked flat footed and slow. Lots of shots from both sides were not inches wide but yards until Kemp’s pass found Papadopoulos who thumped the ball into the back of the net for the winner. Team:Byrne, Reilly (Tanga 71’), Happe, Kemp, Mitchell, Omotoye, Beckles ©, Sotiriou (Nkrumah 40’), Papadopoulos, Sweeney, Kyprianou. Subs unused: Phillips, James, Wood, Clay, Young. Video highlights. Chris Hughton at Notts Forest was the first manger sacked this season. His style was dubbed by many to be too negative, too defensive, too stubborn in its reluctance to change. Heard that before. 18 September. Away to Bristol Rovers (1-3 Smith, Archibald, Drinan). The headline form Sky Sports said it all “Stunning first half display sees Leyton Orient past Bristol Rovers”. We went ahead after 17’ when a James corner to the near post found Smith. His stooping header bounced downwards and up into the net. The second was more spectacular as the Pirates failed to clear their lines and from five yards outside the goal area Archibald’s left foot half volley found the net. James wrapped up a fine display when his cross from the right found the head of Drinan. That wrapped up the first half. Six players were booked (Clay, Vigouroux, Mitchell, Pratley, Archibald, Drinan) as Rovers stepped up the pace in the second half and Ogie gave away a penalty in added time. Foolish as the player he bought down was heading toward the corner flag. Naive. Team: Vigouroux, James, Happe, Wood, Pratley, Beckles, Mitchell, Archibald, Smith, Clay, Drinan. Subs: Byrne, Kyprianou, Kemp, Sweeney, Omotoye, Ogie(Happe 74), Sotiriou. BBC report. Video highlights. Up to 2nd. Let’s not get excited by the last two results as they have been against two teams in the bottom three. Observation: After seeing many games on Quest here is some advice: Goalkeepers - if you cannot catch the ball them doe not parry it back into play as too many goals are scored that way. Defenders - kick the ball as near to the opposition goal and as far away as yours as possible, Do not ponce about in your own area as too many goals are scored that way. Forwards - first touch should be into the back of the net and not taking the ball on another touch. Too many goals are missed that way. Everybody else - one touch passing is the key. U18’s. 10-man Orient get a draw at home to Luton Town (1-1 Obiero). Charlie Pegrum missed a penalty, goalkeeper sent off. Team:Phillips, Kwatchey, Sodje, Staerck, Saponara, Apat, Tanga, Clements, Davies, Obiero, Charlie Pegrum. Subs: Sworder, Reggie Pegrum, Ojo, Kamara, Avgoustidids. 19 September. Jimmy Greaves dies. By Phil McNulty: One of the greatest natural goalscorers English football has ever produced. In an era renowned for hard men such as Leeds United's Norman Hunter, Ron 'Chopper' Harris at Chelsea and 'The Anfield Iron' Tommy Smith, Greaves mixed physical courage and glorious goalscoring nous that made him a striker of undisputed world class. He scored 220 league goals in a nine-year career at Spurs, taking in 331 appearances before leaving for West Ham United in a deal involving Martin Peters that was valued at £200,000. Jimmy Greaves - the goals 491 goals in all competitions 357 First Division goals (including seven hat-tricks) 44 goals in 57 England games (including six hat-tricks) 220 league goals for Spurs - a club record. One of the most natural goalscorers the world has ever seen - and a man who overcame personal demons to make himself a national institution in his second career on TV. Derby County are the latest club in trouble. About to enter administration is the rumour. Their accounts for 2016, 2017 and 2018 are already being re-examined after they were found to have broken accounting rules and they could face more points deductions for that. The Rams were fined £100,000 and reprimanded in July by the English Football League for that breach. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire wrote this for the BBC “ The profligate expenditure since Mel Morris took over, wages effectively trebled from £16m in 2014 to £47m by 2018”. 25 September. Home to Mansfield (0-0). Ben Speedie, make a note of that name as he is the worse referee in this division. Mansfield were in 20th position and they were without a few players and came and done a job on us. The ref missed countless amounts of shirt pulling on Smith and some say ignored four penalty appeals. Also missed were countless fouls on our players. Chances were few in the first half but improved in the second when Clay was replaced by Kyprianou. James was booked because according to the ref (see what I mean) dived to get a penalty. That means he misses the next game. Booking went mad when their Sinclair kicked out at Archibald and was sent off. Inexplicably the ref also booked Ogie and Mitchell whilst only booking another of their players. Sotiriou grazed the post with a header. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Wood, Pratley, Beckles, Mitchell, Archibald, Smith, Clay, Drinan. Subs: Byrne, Kyprianou(Clay 56), Kemp, Omotoye, Happe, Papadopoulos, Sotiriou(Drinan 72). Not sure what the PA report for the BBC on the game was drinking and I suggest PA stood more for Piss Artist than than Press Association. According to their report “Referee Ben Speedie had infuriated the Stags by turning down two penalty claims for hand ball in the first-half”. Really! “Mansfield came closest to breaking the deadlock when Sotiriou grazed the post with a header.”A Sotiriou playing for both sides? Missed that, BBC report. Video highlights. Still 2nd. U18's Report: Luton Town 4-3. Young O’s knocked out of YA Cup by Luton Town. Team: Sworder, Tanga, Sodje, Kwatchey, Saponara, Apat, Obiero, Clements, Smith-Kouassi, Charlie Pegrum, Nkrumah. Subs:Cizungu, Reggie Pegrum, Ojo, Staerck, Davies Goals: Charlie Pegrum, Sodje, Tanga. 17 year-old forward Academy product Daniel Nkrumah has signed his first professional deal. World Cup 1966 hero Roger Hunt died age 83. See his three goals here. From the BBC “He rarely courted the spotlight but when he did, he was always remembered as a humble, modest man who never traded on his historic achievements for Liverpool and England, a true gentleman and a great striker.” 2 October. Away to Port Vale (3-2 O/G, James). Points lost in two minutes. Smyth returned to the bench and Mitchell was missing through injury (tight hamstring). Clay’s performance last match did not warrant a start so Kyprianou took his place. Poor defending (Ogie/Happe) after six minutes gave Vale the lead. It took until the 60th minute to draw level to an own goal. Four minutes from time James put us level from a shot outside the area. Even poorer marking lead to Vale drawing level on 90+1 and two minutes later again to return home pointless. From a forum which may be relevant to our defence Dave Mackay (Spurs great of yesteryear) was once asked why he whacked the ball into the stands when defending at the end in a tight game. His reply “I’ve never seen a goal scored from row Z”. Jackett would not have been happy. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Wood, Pratley, Beckles, Happe, Kyprianou, Archibald, Smith, Drinan. Subs: Byrne, Kemp, Smyth(Archibald 45), Papadopoulos, Sotiriou, Young, Clay(Drinan 76). BBC report. Video highlights. Down to fourth. The U18’s lost 3-1 at Cambridge. Team;Phillips, Kwatchey, Sodje, Ojo(86’ Smith-Kouassi), Hajdini, Eaton, Staerck, Clements(65’ Reggie Pegrum), Nkrumah, Obiero, Charlie Pegrum. Subs:Sworder, Reggie Pegrum, Davies, Smith-Kouassi, Avgoustidis. Goal:34’ Charlie Pegrum. Orient and Mansfield were fined £1000 each by the FA. Both clubs were deemed to have failed to control their players. Ex O’s players did not fare well over the weekend with Turley, Angol, Maguire-Drew, Wilkinson and Cissé injured? Widdowson, Ling, Darby and Johnson only made the bench whilst Brophy was subbed. Bonne was on the score sheet but was still on the losing side. That’s eight for the season. 6 October. Away to Crawley Papa John’s Trophy 0-4 Sotiriou 2, Happe, Kemp). Four players that started Saturday. Sotiriou found the net after seven minutes. A cross from James found the head of Happpe for the second. Poor marking let in Sotiriou who thumped in a half volley. The last found an unmarked Kemp insde the six-yard box for the last goal. Team: Byrne, James, Happe, Clay, Kemp, Omotoye (Nkrumah 79′), Sotiriou, Papadopoulos, Sweeney, Ogie, Kyprianou. Subs unused: Wood, Archibald, Drinan, Beckles, Young, Vigouroux. Attendance: 810 (106 away). Video highlights. 9 October. Away to Barrow. One of the five bookings attributed to James was aimed at someone else despite Soccerbase.com showing five. However he picked up another booking at Port Vale so was not available for this match. Sotiriou and Kyprianou declined to play for the Cyprus U18’s. Last time they played they left as starters for the first team an returned to the bench. Jackett at the time indicated the need to know who pays them. Smyth was on international duty despite only playing a game and a half so far this season. He didn’t play for NI. Mitchell returned to the exclusion of Happe and Clay replaced James. Bad move I thought, would have wanted like for like and played Sweeney to give him confidence. Time will tell. Leaders Forest Green had an early kick off and lost at home to Swindon. This meant we were seven points behind them with a chance to make it three. My brother, streaming the match, described Clay as hapless at half time. Three minutes later we went a goal behind following a bad mistake by Beckles in his own half. Seven minutes later Sotiriou replaced Drinan. On 68’ Beckles drew us level with a close range shot. That is how it stayed. Team: Vigouroux, Clay, Ogie, Wood, Pratley, Beckles, Mitchell, Kyprianou, Archibald, Smith, Drinan. Subs: Byrne, Kemp, Sweeney, Omotoye, Papadopoulos, Happe, Sotiriou(Drinan 55). BBC report. Video highlights. Down to sixth. U18’s Crystal Palace 3-4 Leyton Orient. Team: Phillips, Kwatchey, Apat, Eaton, Tanga, Ojo, Staerck, Sodje, Charlie Pegrum, Smith-Kouassi, Nkrumah. Subs: Sworder, Hajdini, Reggie Pegrum, Davies. Goals: 6’ Smith-Kouassi, 20’ Charlie Pegrum, 67’ Tanga, 90’ Nkrumah. Ex O’s report. Maguire-Drew not even on the bench or Cissé, Turley and Angol nor Coulson as he had broken his ankle. Darby was on the bench but the man who signed them both was sacked. Also on the bench was Sargeant and Wilkinson but nine minutes after coming off the bench he scored the winner for Walsall. Bonne scored the winner for Ipswich with a fine header. Tshimanga was top on the National League scorers. Allegedly we had been interested in him in the summer. 16 October. Home to Walsall (0-0). I said this at the last match, only the name changes. Ollie Yates, make a note of that name as he is the worse referee in this division. The suspended James returned and Clay went back to the bench. Sotiriou was preferred to Drinan. A poor game with only 13 shots at goal from both sides. We had none on target. They fielded six lumps across the back and we had no answer to them. Jackett bought on lightweights Smyth and Kemp and replaced Wood with Clay but we were lacking in midfield and Archibald did not seem to know where he was supposed to be. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Wood, Pratley, Beckles, Mitchell, Kyprianou, Archibald, Smith, Sotiriou. Subs: Byrne, Kemp(Archibald 72), Smyth(Sotiriou 45), Clay(Wood 45), Drinan, Omotoye, Happe. BBC report. Video highlights. Down to seventh. Home to top of the table Forest Green on Tuesday. Reilly and Thompson would not return to the team this month. 19 October. Home to Forest Green (1-1 Sotiriou). I didn’t get to this one. Sotiriou returned to the bench which is where Archibald started. They were replaced by Kemp and Smyth. Goalless in the first half we went behind on 68’. Seven minutes later Wood and Smyth were replaced by Archibald and Sotiriou. On 76’ a quick break from defence found Kemp and his pass found Sotiriou on the right. His shot found the left hand side net. I made that over 166’ without a shot on target as there were none in the first half. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Wood, Pratley, Beckles, Mitchell, Kyprianou, Kemp, Smith, Smyth. Subs: Byrne, Archibald(Wood 61), Sotiriou(Smyth 61), Clay(Kyprianou 88), Drinan, Omotoye, Happe. BBC report. Video highlights. With three teams around us winning we went to tenth. We drew Ebbsfleet at home in the FA Cup. They are currently fourth in the Vanarama National League South. Sargeant returned from his two month loan but was not selected. Even for the bench. 23 October. Away to Stevenage (0-0). Back came Archibald and Sotiriou replacing Wood and Smyth. Goalless at half time with 59% of the play, eight shots at goal with four on target. Archibald was booked for diving. Despite 14 shots, seven on target we failed to score. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Pratley, Beckles, Mitchell, Kyprianou, Sotiriou, Kemp, Smith, Archibald. Subs: Byrne, Wood, Clay(Kyprianou 55), Drinan(Archibald 56), Omotoye, Happe, Papadopoulos. Up one to ninth. BBC report. Video highlights. Smyth was out due to a hamstring on his good leg. 30 October. Home to Hartlepool (5-0 Drinan 3, Smith, James). Sotiriou and Kyprianiou were benched and were replaced by Clay and Drinan. On 20’ Clay’s ball from Ogie found Smith. He found Drinan on the edge of the area and his first time shot went beyond their keepers left hand. Fifteen minutes later Drinan found Smith in the same position and after a left foot touch his right foot shot also flew past the keepers left hand. Strange goings on at half time as there was no indication of added time and the players went off on 45’. When they returned 4’ 20” were played to complete the first half. On 56’ Drinan’s pass found James and his shot went past the on rushing keeper. Twenty eight minutes later a poor pass from their keeper reached Drinan and his half volley found the net. The final drama of the afternoon was six minutes into added time when James’ far post cross was headed down by Smith but only found the post. The unmarked Drinan tapped it home for his hat trick. This was all about what other teams are doing to us. We harried, harassed and harried again and that gave us four of the goals. Drinan and Clay for the second, Archibald for the third, Drinan, Archibald and Smith for the fourth and Clay and Kyprianou. Their manager got booked after a hand ball by Pratley (though he was on the deck at the time) as he had already been booked. Pratley did not return for the added minutes or the second half. Reilly played the added time. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Pratley, Beckles, Mitchell, Kemp, Clay, Drinan, Smith, Archibald. Subs: Byrne, Wood, Reilly(Kemp 90), Omotoye, Happe, Kyprianou(Pratley 45), Sotiriou. Up to joint 6th with four other trams on 23 points. BBC report. Video highlights. The club were offering the game for a fiver and supposed to be a sell out but only 6,233 were in attendance in a ground supposed to house over 9,000. That’s lot of fivers that were lost and maybe a lot of season ticket holders that did not turn up. Can’t have enough of a good thing here are more highlights. The U18’s lost at home to AFC Wimbledon 0-1. Team: Phillips, Kwatchey, Sodje, Harvest, Apat, Obiero, Tanga, Clements(60’ Akinbusoye), Smith-Kouassi, Nkrumah, Davies. Subs: Sworder, Reggie Pegrum, Eaton, Avgoustidis, Akinbusoye. 5 November. The Supporters Club real ale supremo Mick Childs passed away. Without him there would have been no real ale in the clubroom all these years. 6 November. Home to Ebbsfleet United in the FA Cup (1-0 Drinan). Shocker. Mitchell did not feature. Millwall didn’t want him cup-tied? Kyprianou replaced him. We went ahead when Vigouroux passed to Ogie and found Drinan beating the offside and placing the ball into the far side netting on 25’. Though James won man of the match to be honest no one deserved it. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Pratley, Beckles, Kyprianou, Kemp, Clay, Drinan, Smith, Archibald. Subs: Byrne, Wood, Smyth, Young, Sweeney, Omotoye, Happe, Sotiriou. BBC report. Video highlights. Home to Tranmere in the next round. Ex O Dean Smith was relieved of his managerial duties at Aston Villa. The rumour that we were interested in Brandon Comley of Bolton reared its head again when he was released from his contract. 10 November. Home to Charlton Papa John’s Trophy (1-0 Smyth). Thompson returns but no place for Reilly. A mixture of experience and youth. Goalless at half time Papadopoulos was sent off on 66’ but Smyth picked up the ball after a slip by a defender and took the ball past his marker and placed it past the feet of the keeper who was diving the wrong way. Team: Byrne, Wood, Happe, Smyth (Kemp 85’), Mitchell, Omotoye (Nkrumah 90’), Sotiriou, Young, Papadopoulos, Ogie (Thompson 71’), Kyprianou. Unused substitutes: Sargeant, Clay, Sweeney, Tanga. Video highlights. Top of the group with a home tie in the next round. No place for Reilly. Sargeant on the bench. 13 November. Away at Rochdale (2-2 Drinan, Clay). First minute, shocking, 90th minute, shocking. In between mediocre. Pratley was benched but there was no space for Reilly or Smyth there. We were a goal down in a minute but a strike from Drinan after 24’ drew us level. Clay found the net on 66’ to put us in the lead. But a goal on 90’ by the Dale meant points shared. Though they did hit the woodwork on 90+5. One opinion was “Ogie is plane spotting and Beckles is thinking about his dinner. The second ain't much better. Pratley dithers about coming off to defend a near post that has no stopper (at home that's Smith) and Smith gets beat by a player with more desire to get on the end of it”. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Mitchell, Beckles, Kyprianou, Kemp, Clay, Drinan, Smith, Archibald. Subs: Byrne, Wood, Nkrumah, Thompson, Happe, Pratley(Kyprianou 76), Sotiriou(Drinan 81). BBC report. Video highlights. Down to ninth, seven points behind the leaders Forest Green who have a game in hand. Players nearing suspension with four yellow cards include Pratley, Clay, Archibald and Kyprianou and followed by Ogie and Smith on three. Elsewhere Tshimanga scored his first hat trick for Chesterfield. Ex Os: Maguire-Drew only made the bench for Woking as did Thomas for Dagenham. Turley returned for Barnet. No place, even on the bench for Wilkinson or Johnson. Injured? Angol came off the bench to score for Bradford. Dennis was on the bench and came on for Bromley where Alabi started. Alex Revell was sacked as Stevenage manager but Dean Smith was given the managers job at Norwich. The U18’s powered their way into the next round of the FA Youth Cup beating Newport 6-1 at Brisbane Road with three goals in each half. Team: Phillips, Kwatchey, Sodje, Harvest, Apat, Obiero, Tanga, Clements, Smith-Kouassi, Nkrumah, Charlie Pegrum Subs: Sworder, Reggie Pegrum, Eaton, Ojo, Davies, Avgoustidis. Goals: Smith-Kouassi (2’ 13’) Nkrumah (23’ 48’ 58’) Clements (61’). 20 November. Home to Sutton (4-1 Archibald, Smith 2, James). We went behind in the 18’ due to a poor midfield pass by Mitchell which Ogie failed to control and was dispossessed, failed to make up the ground, and Isaac Olaofe rifled the ball into the roof of the goal. On the half hour though a long throw from James was headed on to the path of the incoming Archibald to tap home. A minute after the restart Archibald’s cross was met by the keeper who failed to hold the ball and Smith headed into the empty net. Eight minutes from time a clearance found Smith on the edge of the area and his left foot shot rocketed into the net past the stranded keeper. Four minutes into added time Archibald’s pass found James whose first time shot somehow managed to find the net. Kemp had leaft his shooting boots at home as at least four shots were wide of the target by, not inches but yards. Needs more work on the training ground. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Mitchell, Beckles, Kyprianou, Kemp, Clay, Drinan, Smith, Archibald. Subs: Byrne, Wood, Smyth(Drinan 86), Thompson, Happe, Pratley(Kyprianou 82), Sotiriou. BBC report. Video highlights. Up to 6th. Away to bottom placed Scunthorpe on Tuesday. U18’s beat Cambridge at home 3-2 after being 1-2 down at half time with an added time winner. Team: Phillips, Kwatchey, Hadjini, Harvest, Tawiah, Ojo(Reggie Pegrum 85’), Tanga, Clements, Smith-Kouassi, Nkrumah, Charlie Pegrum. Subs: Sworder, Eaton, Reggie Pegrum, Davies. Goals: Smith-Kouassi 30’ Charlie Pegrum 70’ Nkrumah 90+6’. 23 November. Away to Scunthorpe (1-1 Drinan). Drinan put us in the lead on 21’ following a pass from Kyprianou. On 64’ they levelled the scores. We had enough chances to win but only two shots on target out of 15. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Mitchell, Beckles, Kyprianou, Kemp, Clay, Drinan, Smith, Archibald. Subs: Byrne, Wood, Pratley(Clay 81), Smyth(Kemp 69) Thompson, Happe, Sotiriou. BBC report. Video highlights. Down to 8th. 27 November. Away to Northampton (1-0). With Clay unfit back came Pratley. We went a goal down on 41’ and that is the way it stayed despite 58% of the play. Only nine shots with three on target. Says it all. Smyth injured again? Reily still injured. Supporters were not impressed: Absolutely superb support from the O's today and we at least want a bit of effort. Hector. 5. Made a goal midweek so it’s all good? Not really. We are desperate, desperate for a quality central midfield player. He doesn’t play badly per se, he just doesn’t have any impact on the game. Ever.(aside from midweek obvs). Kemp. 4.5. If you want a game where Kemp would disappear it was this one. Windy. Very little football played. Northampton very strong in defence. He looked like a little boy lost. Played well lately. Not today. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Mitchell, Beckles, Kyprianou, Kemp, Pratley, Drinan, Smith, Archibald. Subs: Byrne, Wood(Archibald 62), Papadopoulos, Omotoye(Kemp 90+3) Thompson, Happe, Sotiriou(Drinan 62). BBC report. Video highlights. Still 8th. Kyprianou booked which may mean he misses the next match. Fatal with good players on the bench. The U18’s lost 0-3 at home to Southend. Team: Phillips, Kwatchey, Sodje, Harvest, Tawiah(76′ Reggie Pegrum), Obiero(70′ Koroma), Tanga(76′ Eaton), Clements, Fish, Nkrumah, Charlie Pegrum. Subs: Norman, Eaton, Reggie Pegrum, Koroma, Avgoustidis Josh Wright joined Billericay Town as player/coach. Maguire-Drew parted company with Working. Dalby scored the winner for Southend in a rare win but it still leaves them in a relegation place. Kabongo Tshimanga remains top scorer in the National League with 17 despite Chesterfield’s match being off. 30 November. Home to MK Dons Papa Johns Trophy (0-0, lost on penalties). Again a mixture of youth and reserves. Sotiriou came close with a shot that cannoned of the bar. His missed penalty meant we did not progress further though not many people seemed bothered as only 990 turned up and 190 were from the Dons. Team: Byrne, Wood (James 76’), Happe (C), Thompson, Archibald, Mitchell, Omotoye (Tanga 61’), Sotiriou, Young, Kyprianou, Nkrumah (Smith 76’). Subs unused: Vigouroux, Pratley, Beckles, Ogie. Video highlights. Charlie Lee announced his retirement. He is 34 and last played for Billericay. Maguire-Drew joined Grimsby on an 18 month contract. 4 December. Home to Tranmere Rovers FA Cup 2nd Round (4-0 Smith 2, Beckles, Drinan(pen)). Mitchell was unable to play in the FA Cup and was replaced by Thompson. Clay replaced Pratley. A goal up on 22’ via Smith and assisted by Kyprianou. On 36’ Beckles made it two assisted by Aaron Drinan following a corner. On 60’ Drinan converts a penalty with a right footed shot to the high centre of the goal following a hand ball. Twenty three minutes later Smith scored a second with a left footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Hector Kyprianou. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Thompson, Beckles, Kyprianou, Kemp, Drinan, Smith, Archibald, Clay. Subs: Byrne, Wood, Papadopoulos, Omotoye, Happe(Ogie 85), Sotiriou, Pratley(Clay 55), Sargeant, Young(Kemp 69). BBC report. Video highlights. We were to draw Stoke away in the next round. Ex O’s elsewhere: Ollie Palmer hit a brace as Wimbledon beat Cheltenham 4-3. Johnson didn’t play for Mansfield, Wilkinson did for Walsall but they still lost. Brophy’s Cambridge beat Jake Caprice’s Exeter. Ling and Dagenham beat Grimsby where the newly signed Maguire-Drew was substituted after 66’. Alabi came off the bench for Bromley but no place for Dennis. U18’s lost at home to Wimbledon 2-4 after being two up. Team: Phillips, Reggie Pegrum, Sodje, Harvest, Eaton, Tawiah, Tanga, Obiero, Nkrumah, Koroma(Ojo 81’), Charlie Pegrum. Subs: Sworder, Ojo, Davies, St Louis. 7 December. Home to Swindon (4-1 Drinam 2, Smith 2). Unlucky 13. Drinan and Smith both bought their tally to 13 for the season. We went a goal up after a fine cross-field ball found James. Chesting the ball down his low cross, first time ball, found Drinan meeting it and his shot hit the roof of the net at the near post. Three minutes before half time Kemp’s attempt to play their 11 offside failed and they equalised. Kyprianou was missing due to a hamstring strain before ko and was replaced by Prately. Mitchell returned to replace Thompson. Fourteen minutes after the restart two touches from Archibald a a cross found the incoming Drinan for his second. On 64’ a foul and booking for their 11 and a pass by James found Archibald. Again two touches and a cross found our man, this time Smith, who controlled the ball with his right and slotted home with his left. Eighteen minutes later Pratley dispossessed their defender and found Drinan. He raced towards goal and his shot could only be parried onto the head of Smith for his second. Team: Vigouroux, James, Ogie, Beckles, Mitchell, Kemp, Drinan, Smith, Archibald, Clay. Subs: Byrne, Omotoye(Smith 90+2), Happe, Sotiriou(Drinan 90), Thompson, Young. BBC report. Video highlights. Swindon had 62% of the play but like us last year failed to turn it to their advantage. Up the 7th, six points behind second place which is where we would be had we beaten Northampton and Port Vale. Home to 18th placed Crawley on Saturday. Next page.