Leyton Orient 2 Stockport County 2 ( Football League 1) Saturday 16 August 2025

County took their supporters on the ultimate roller coaster ride today- looking well on for a handsome victory at half time ,having secured a 2-0 lead via two goals of real quality- one each from Nathan Lowe and Joseph Olowu.

The thought of the second half to follow was a mouthwatering prospect- based on those goals we would surely add others in the 45 minutes that remained to play-we would surely not sit on that lead!

But we did, allowing Orient to dominate the second half almost throughout, clawing one goal back before the hour and , most disappointingly of all that cherished equaliser 3 minutes into the 7 that Referee Reubin Ricardo came up with.

Disappointing hardly covers it but …end of the world it is not -the point away from home we achieved would usually be looked on as progress, but our standards have been hitched up a notch or two judged by the nature of recent signings so we`ll have to settle  for the point , but then go again next time out having learned any lessons from the days performance!

………………………………………

 

 

Most of the early play was in County`s half- Koroma showing first for the East Londoners with a run to the by-line down the right. He settled for a corner that the blues cleared easily enough.

It was 5 minutes before County replied but Joseph Olowu was just short of getting on the end of a through ball into the box, and it at this point that I watched with some dismay as an official from Orient oversaw the forcable removal of flags put up with consent of pitch side stewards and mostly as far as I can make out containing fire cert labels prominently diplayed- black mark Orient!

Back to the game , as O`Keefe then saw no takers as he aimed a cross over at the sharp end, with blue shirts there in numbers.

Perhaps that apparent lack of strike persuaded DC to make the change , bringing Nathan Lowe on for Callum Camps, but it might also be just that Camps had taken a knock.

Whatever the reasoning ,Lowe was on ,and we would soon reap a considerable benefit from that fact.

Meanwhile the blues had defending to do as Koroma again cruised to the by-line before unleashing a cross that was totally unattended by anyone in a red shirt.

On it went- Orient pressing forward none more so than Aaron Connolly but he saw his shot , 20 minutes in, deflected for  a corner that County cleared with little difficulty.

On…..and on…… County losing the ball creating danger for themselves with Sean Clare on hand for our hosts ,but he followed County`s example and spilled possession at the vital moment- any chance was gone!

This pattern continued  for some time, interrupted on 28 minutes by  a blooper by Orient keeper Tommy Simkin that gifted County a corner from nothing.

Norwood`s kick flew out tamely, but our disappointment over this lasted barely a single minute before the game was blessed by a goal of sublime quality- wonderfully put together gem!

Jack Diamond started Orient`s troubles with a jinking run that saw him drift inside leaving 3 defenders struggling in his wake.

Diamond then released a pass to Moxon to his right and in no time he had pinged the ball wide to the advancing Olowu down the right, and in one rapid movement he despatched the ball sweetly onto Nathan Lowe`s head smack in front – it was 1-0 and the large County following were cheering loudly as Lowe headed it home!

Twice shortly after this , Diamond forced keen defensive action from Orient to keep him out- they did thanks to the efforts of Clare and Jaiyesimi, but not for long as another wonderful goal was on the way, and it was a goal with more than a dash of karma about it !

Lowe was the instigator this time starting a run from deep wide right only for him to be hauled down by Adamarola.

The free kick was way out wide so no apparent threat to the home side`s was it?

But nobody told Norwood or Joseph Olowu, who had already given us a considerable assist, and the County no 26 planted the kick into the box- it needed something special adding  and Olowu produced it- flinging himself headlong forward to head the ball brilliantly home to a crescendo of cheers from the East Stand !

Another monumentally excellent goal putting us 2-0 up and seemingly quids in!

Helped by good attacking work by Corey O`Keefe – Olowu went close to adding another in what remained of the half- thwarted ,on the line, by a good reaction save from Tommy Simkin.

Added time saw Diamond, and Wootton denied by last ditch saves by the keeper, so …all in all my feeling was that we would look to build on what we had in the second half!

………………………………..

 And so to the second half ,which pretty much became a procession in the direction of Corey Addai`s goal….

Clare lifting the ball hopelessly over the bar for Orient after being set up by Adaramola and O`Neill…..Aaron Connolly following suit just 2 minutes later.

I was tempted to think we were safe ,but I was wrong as O`Neill put County under the cosh with a run that ended with him picking out Aaron Connolly who drilled the ball into County`s net with impeccable precision just before the hour mark.

It was 2-1 now and ….yes….we definitely had a game on our hands!

But maybe we could rely on Orient`s inability to finish their moves ?

For sure their free kicks were poor- the latest from Tom James carrying the bar harmlessly.

The pressure was on ,but we had Callum Connolly and he was playing right up to his best with block after block under pressure!

We went into the last 15 minutes with Orient still pressing, but seemingly unable to make anything of considerable attacking possession- their free kicks were still flying anywhere but where they needed to go.

And we had…..Callum Connolly and Joseph Olowu  when the chips were down.

By this time ,Mothersille and Andrews were on for Dodgson and Wootton and later Brad Hills and Jayden Fevrier for Norwood and Diamond- a major reshuffle of resources!

The game continued much as before with the Blues having to defend right into 7 minutes added time, but Orient only needed 3 of these , their supporters elated to see Ollie O Neill nick one to thoroughly ruin County`s day!

Battle on as County did, it was to no avail- the win had slipped from their grasp a share of the points being what we were looking at now.

The last 4 minutes of added time were excitement free zones- we eventually claimed that point and tomorrow will probably think better of it than we do now.

Still undefeated , albeit with one or two things to sort before our next challenge.

I hope to be there , will you be ?

 

Leyton Orient line up:-

Simkin, Beckles, Happe, James (Craig 79'), Jaiyesimi (Moorhouse 79'), Clare (Bakinson 79'), El Mizouni (Abdulai 88'), Adaramola (Mitchell 79'), Koroma, Connolly, O'Neill

Subs not used : Simpson, Cahill

Stockport County line up:

 Addai, Olowu, Connolly, Pye, O'Keeffe, Moxon, Norwood (Hills 88'), Dodgson (Andrew 74'), Camps (Lowe 17'), Diamond (Fevrier 88'), Wootton (Mothersille 73')

Subs not used: Hinchliffe,  Andrésson.

Attendance : 7,651 (702 )

hedgegrower

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leyton Orient