Big Preview: Leyton Orient vs Southend United

3 September 2019

Leyton Orient vs Southend United

Overview

Blues turn their attentions to the Leasing.com Trophy this evening as Kevin Bond's side travel to The Breyer Group Stadium to take on Leyton Orient.

Southend reached round three of the competition last term before being knocked out by the eventual winners Portsmouth at Roots Hall.

Orient were last in the competition back in the 2016/17 season where they fell at the first hurdle, finishing bottom of a group which included Stevenage, Brighton and Southend.

Form

Southend’s league troubles have been well documented in recent weeks, with Blues still to pick up a league point from their six games so far this season.

Kevin Bond’s only win of the campaign so far came in the first round of the Carabao Cup against Stevenage last month where Blues won 2-1.

Leyton Orient have settled back into life in the Football League with two wins, two draws and two defeats from their six games, drawing 1-1 on the road at Salford City on Saturday.

Last Meeting

Tuesday 4^th October 2016

Southend United 1-0 Leyton Orient

Fortune 82’

Marc-Antoine Fortune’s late goal was all that separated the two sides at Roots Hall as Blues ran out 1-0 winners against Leyton Orient in the Football League Trophy.

The Frenchman turned to fire home with an impressive left-footed effort with just over eight minutes remaining, ensuring Southend’s passage into the next round.

Blues Team News

Assistant manager Gary Waddock suggested Blues would be playing as strong a side possible, especially now the league game against Portsmouth this weekend has been postponed. Waddock to report some 'bumps and bruises' for the management team to factor in, though, when selecting the side this evening.

Two players who will be missing however will be Mark Milligan and Charlie Kelman after both received call-ups by the Australian national team and U.S. under 20 side respectively.

Blues are still waiting to hear the extent of John White’s injury after he was forced off during the defeat to Rochdale which means he almost certainly will not be featuring tonight.

Orient Danger Man

Josh Wright is someone that Southend fans will remember from his time at the club, having spent a season with Blues in 2017/18 following his departure from Gillingham.

Wright made the switch from Bradford City to Orient in the summer and was the last player signed by the late Justin Edinburgh, and he’s gotten off to a good start to life at The Breyer Group Stadium.

The 29-year-old scored the winner in Orient’s opening day victory against Cheltenham before following it up with a second of the season in a losing effort at home to Crawley.

Ref Watch

The referee this evening at The Breyer Group Stadium will be Christopher Pollard who will be assisted by Bhupinder Gill and Daniel Cook, with Kevin Howick the fourth official.

Pollard has taken charge of three League Two games so far this season, issuing nine yellow cards as well as one red, with the red being shown on Pollard’s opening assignment at Mansfield.

This is Pollard’s first season in the Football League so he’s never taken charge of Southend before, most recently refereeing Leyton Orient in their 3-2 win over Eastleigh in March.

Away Fans Guide

The Southend fans that are making the relatively short journey into East London this evening will find themselves housed in the North Stand at The Breyer Group Stadium.

Traditionally away fans are put over in the East Stand but it's been switched for this evening's encounter in the 9,000-plus capacity stadium.

For more information on the ground, including info on travel directions, where to park and where to go for a pre-match drink, check out awaygames.co.uk’s guide by clicking here

Tickets

Tickets for tonight’s match are available via the Blues Box Office, online or by calling 08444 770077 until midday today (Tuesday 3^rd September).

They will still be available to purchase from The Breyer Group Stadium directly at no additional charge, with both cash and card sales available.

Prices of tickets range from £1.00 for u18’s up to £7.00 for Adults/Seniors.

iFollow Live Stream

Can't make it to The Breyer Group Stadium? Watch live on iFollow, with match passes available to purchase in the UK for £10.

Commentary will come from BBC Essex along with in-game graphics and action replays too.

Any fans with queries should contact the EFL ifollow customer service team for assistance via ifollow@efl.com or by using the live chat tool at the bottom right hand side of the website.

Match Reports

Match Report: Leyton Orient 2-0 Southend

3 September 2019

Southend United opened up their Leasing.com Trophy campaign with a 2-0 defeat against Leyton Orient at The Breyer Group Stadium.

The home side scored what looked like being the only goal of the game in just the sixth minute when James Alabi’s far-post cross was headed in at close range by Dan Happe.

Orient almost grabbed a second a couple of minutes later when Harry Lennon smacked his own post clearing Alabi’s header on goal after Alabi had intercepted Lennon’s header back to Mark Oxley.

The home side then had another chance go begging when Jordan Maguire-Drew’s cross found Louis Dennis in space, but his free-header was never troubling Oxley in the Blues goal.

Kevin Bond’s side had to make do with only half-chances at best in the opening 45 minutes with Emile Acquah seeing his header from an Elvis Bwomono cross go wide.

Isaac Hutchinson had a couple of speculative efforts of his own fly off target before the Blues midfielder got himself sent off right on half-time by reacting to a foul by Dale Gorman.

Gorman had given away a free-kick by bringing down the Southend youngster, only for Hutchinson to shove Gorman to the ground in front of the referee, giving him no choice but to show a red.

Playing against 10-men, Orient went in search of a second goal early in the second-half and came mightily close when Matt Harrold headed the ball against the post before Alabi missed the rebound.

Maguire-Drew then saw an effort from outside the box go wide before forcing Oxley into making a smart save moments later, with the Blues ‘keeper parrying the Orient striker’s left-footed strike.

While only a goal down, the 10-men of Southend still held a chance of forcing an equaliser and they had two great chances to level through their two substitutes, Brandon Goodship and Simon Cox.

Making his 500^th career appearance, Cox threaded a ball through to Goodship whose low effort from inside the box was denied by a great reaction save from Sam Sargeant.

Bwomono then picked out Cox with a low ball across the face of goal, but under pressure, the Blues striker prodded his effort just wide of Sargeant’s right-hand post.

But Southend’s push for an equaliser was to no avail as Orient would wrap up the points late on with Gorman grabbing a second goal in the final minute of normal time.

Gorman received the ball 20-yards from goal and curled a first-time effort beyond the despairing dive of Oxley to secure a winning start for Orient.

Leyton Orient XI: Sargeant, Gorman, Ekpiteta, Maguire-Drew (Clay 83’), Judd (Ling 46’), Happe, Dennis (Angol 66’), Harrold (C), Marsh, Ogie, Alabi. Subs Not Used: Janata, Wilkinson, Shabani, Sweeney

Blues XI: Oxley, Bwomono, Kiernan, Hamilton, Ndukwu (Goodship 46’), Mantom (C), Shaughnessy, Lennon, Acquah (Cox 53’), Hutchinson, Blackman. Subs Not Used: Bishop, Hyam, Humphrys, Taylor, Clifford

Referee: Christopher Pollard

Assistants: Bhupinder Gill & Daniel Cook

Fourth Official: Kevin Howick

Scorers:

Leyton Orient: Dan Happe 6’, Dale Gorman 90’

Southend United: None

Yellow Cards:

Leyton Orient: Dale Gorman 45’

Southend United: Simon Cox 70’

Red Cards:

Leyton Orient: None

Southend United: Isaac Hutchinson 45’