And off we go again. It’s still only the second Tuesday of the season and, by the end of it, we’ll be four fixtures down in the 2016-7 season. At this rate, our latest League Two campaign will be all over before you know it. It has been the definitive mixed bag from our opening three outings – a defeat, a win and a draw. It is time to upset that evenly-balanced applecart, though. To East London we go, and the Matchroom Stadium for the Game of Os. Oh yes, it’s Leyton Orient v Stevenage in Sky Bet League Two.
Now, don’t get confused between this and the game of thrones. In the throney-booby-dragony version, there are just two possible outcomes for participants – apparently you either win or you die. We’ve read the books and watched the tellybox programme – it’s a pretty watertight theory. On the flip side, the Game of Os is much less brutal. For a start, there are three possible outcomes. And none of them include death. It shows that football has moved on a long way since the medieval era. In some respects…
Leyton Orient v Stevenage: Os You Knows…
In many quarters, our hosts for our latest midweek venture are seen as a good punt for the League Two title. And yet the start that Leyton Orient has made barely raises a “pfft”. Of course, it’s not how you begin that counts in the grand scheme of things. We only have to look how we kicked off our 2009-10 Blue Square Premier-winning campaign for a relevant example. And yet Orient’s start is little different to ours. All that sets us apart is that we won our League Cup First Round tie and have scored more in the League.
By one.
If Newport County were to be relegated this season, it wouldn’t surprise too many people. And yet they’ve been to the Matchroom and left with all three points. No doubt it’ll prove a statistical anomaly come the end of term as much as our home defeat to Crewe (we hope). If nowt else, it should give us total confidence that we’re capable of doing the very same. Can we make lightning strike twice in the same place and in the space of three days? Let’s at least give it a go, eh?
Our head-to-head record against the Os doesn’t make for comfortable bedtime reading. Five of the 10 meetings have gone in their favour, while our last two visits are among six times we’ve drawn a blank in front of their goal. We can only give you one crumb of comfort – two of our three victories against Orient have been at their gaff. Once, under Gary Smith (yes, really!); second, our 1996-7 FA Cup triumph. It’s four years this weekend since we last beat Leyton Orient. Time to improve our record in the Game of Os, don’t you think?
But, here’s a reminder in pretty picture form of Leyton Orient v Stevenage – courtesy of KickOff:
BoroGuide’s Leyton Orient club profile – ‘cos you know nothing, Jon Snow…
