The second home match of Orient’s League One campaign was a cracker. It started well with the home site dominating the first half, but going in with only a goal to show for it. Still, there hadn’t been any real scares and although the single goal lead didn’t make us feel entirely comfortable the team were playing well. Even Joe Keith, who had such a poor game against Millwall, played pretty well and took on a few defenders with more success than he’d had the other night. The pairing of Steele and Alexander upfront was maintained and Alexander’s goal proved that it was working well.
The second half was a complete change with Bournemouth doing all the pressing early on and there was a sense of foreboding in the air. Soon after Bournemouth scored on the break, and then five minutes later Orient were 2-1 down. But slowly the team started to lift, driven largely by the front-men, it has to be said, and the attacking midfielders as the defence continued to struggle. (With the exception of Lockwood who again had an excellent game.)
After much pressing, and a few decent chances missed, Lee Steele headed in from a corner to bring us back level. Soon after Steele was faced with an open goal after an excellent move involving Shane Tudor but he somehow stood on the ball and a Keystone Cops style farce was acted out in the six yard box which results in the ball being cleared. A final well-taken goal erased that memory and Orient finished the game strongly with a 92nd minute strike from Steel to take the three points in a 3-2 victory.
That leaves the team 9th in the table after the first three games, and with six points. A very respectable start for a newly promoted team.