The O’s are currently battling hard in the National League title race, as well as having an FA Trophy semi-final to look forward to. However, fans will be wondering if the squad can cope with the hectic fixture schedule that challenging for two trophies brings.
No team has won the FA Trophy and English football’s fifth tier together since the Wycombe side managed by Martin O’Neill in 1993.
Some great sides have won the National League in recent years and have taken that success into the Football League, namely Fleetwood, Luton and most recently Danny Cowley’s Lincoln City.
This begs the question – why doesn’t the non-league double occur more often?
Packed Schedule
The answer lies in the heavy fixture congestion the Trophy run brings. The two-legged semi-final has to be played on Saturday’s meaning league fixtures are moved to Tuesday nights.
A lot of managers consider it a nuisance and a distraction, when chasing the ultimate goal of reaching the Football League.
One example of a team that sacrificed their league campaign by chasing triumph in the Trophy are current holders, and the team who succumbed to Orient in the last round, Brackley Town.
With a trip to Wembley on the horizon and the fixture list piling up, Brackley’s form suffered. They lost four of the nine games they played in April; this mammoth run of fixtures would certainly have had an impact on their fitness levels, which can’t have helped once they reached the Play-off Final in May.
They were comfortably beaten 3-0 in the National League North Play-off Final by Harrogate. A week later, they went on to beat Bromley on penalties at Wembley, but it could be argued that the more significant result was the one against Harrogate.
Collective Effort
It’s fair to say that Orient probably have more resources in terms of squad depth and medical science than Brackley had last season. Although, with eight games scheduled for March and a further seven in April, those resources will be tested to the limit.
Justin Edinburgh has always claimed that he wants two first team players for every position. With a number of players returning to full fitness after injury plus the recent arrivals of Jamie Turley, Jordan Maguire-Drew and Jay Simpson, that now looks to be the case for the first time since he joined Orient.
This leaves the O’s gaffer with no excuse but to use his full squad and rotate accordingly, in order to prevent burn out come the end of the season.
Orient’s Trophy semi-final comes against National League North side AFC Telford, a tie the O’s could feasibly win even without a side that isn’t necessarily first choice.
As it stands, the likes of Dale Gorman, Alex Lawless and Matt Harrold would not feature in Orient’s starting lineup provided everyone was fit.
However, they could prove crucial in the two-legged Trophy semi, as well as any league games against lesser opposition during the run-in.
High Stakes
Even if the worst was to happen and a second-string Orient side lost out on a Wembley place to Telford, it would soon be forgotten as long as the season finished with promotion back to the Football League.
If the reverse was to happen and success in the FA Trophy ultimately ended up scuppering their promotion chances, that Trophy victory could leave a taste of regret in Orient mouth’s as they might not get a better chance to get out of the notoriously tricky National League.
