It was a disappointing weekend in East London as Leyton Orient suffered a narrow defeat at home to Macclesfield, where Scott Wilson scored the winning goal in the dying moments of the first half.
The O’s had the most chances in the game and could have scored the opening goal in 15th minute of the first half, when Bonne was through on goal but was challenged well by Macclesfield’s goalkeeper, Shawn Jalal, who picked up an injury in the play and had to be replaced by Sam Ramsbottom.
Only five minutes later, the hosts spurned away another great chance when David Mooney failed to convert a shot from 7 yards out following a corner taken by Romauld Boco.
The East Londoners seemed to be in control of the game, until late in the first half, when Charlie Grainger was forced to make a great save that gave the opposition a throw by the corner flag.
The visitors broke the deadlock, by taking advantage of the throw in. Elliott Durrell crossed the ball into the box from the right, where Scott Wilson met it with his head to score the opener.
Determined O’s
The hosts came out of the tunnels looking determined to turn the game around, Orient managed to dominate possession and to gain a corner in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
However, the first goal scoring chance came when The Silk Men exploited the right flank and unleashed a low cross that travelled the width of the box to be met by David Fitzgerald who tried his luck from just outside the box only for the ball to go over the bar.
Orient responded by making a double change, they brought James Brophy and Zaine Westbrooke into the game to replace Mark Ellis and Romauld Boco, in an attempt to bring more pace onto the match
Four minutes later, the O’s had a great chance to level the score, when David Mooney whipped a cross into the box from the right, but Macauley Bonne headed the ball in the goalkeeper’s direction, who then reacted quickly by saving the shot upwards, creating great confusion in the box until possession is finally regained by the visitors.
The match then became more chess-like with every play being very calculated and the game getting much slower until the final minutes.
Higher Expectations
Leyton Orient’s manager, Steve Davis, was disappointed with the chances wasted by the team despite the good performance.
The manager said: ‘’I thought we started the second half well, the game was always going to be slowed down by the opposition, so it is hard to get momentum, you want the game to be fast and flowing, that’s how we like it, so once it slows down it is very hard to get that goal’’
Speaking about his team’s changes in the game, Davis said: ‘’I thought the introduction of Brophy made a big difference, he got in behind many times, Maca (Macauley Bonne) had a fantastic chance, free header, four yards out, but hit the keeper. Those things have to go for you and they didn’t today, and I have got to say, performance aside, I expect more.’’
In the 86th minute, Macclesfield had the chance to eliminate all doubts on who would take all three points, only for substitute Tyrone Marsh to shoot wide of Charlie Grainger’s post following a good counter-attacking move.
Leyton Orient tried to force an equalizer late in the game as the fourth official added another five minutes to the match.
However, all efforts were in vain as we reached full time with Macclesfield taking the 1-0 win.
Orient XI: (Manager: Steve Davis)
Grainger, Caprice, Widdowson, Ellis, Happe, Dayton, Judd, Boco, Clay, Mooney, Bonne.
Subs: Sargeant, Clark, Brophy, Sotiriou, Westbrooke
Macclesfield XI: (Manager: John Askey)
Jalal, Fitzgerald, Lowe, Pilkington, Kennedy, Durrell, Hancox, Whitehead, Whitaker, Lloyd, Wilson
Subs: Ramsbottom, Marsh, Baba, Burgess, Arthur
Goals: Scott Wilson (45+1′)
Referee: Christopher O’Donnell
Attendance: 4,562 (193 away)
Leyton Orient will now take on Gateshead on a Tuesday night fixture to take place at The Matchroom stadium on October 23rd, with kick off scheduled for 7:45pm.
Tickets for this fixture are still available from the club’s website www.leytonorient.com.
