Orient Express Leaves City Stranded: Leyton Orient 1-0 Imps

October 26, 2025 Gary Leyton Orient, Lincoln City, Matches, Reports 2

We started the second half as we did the first, on the front foot and missing chances. They weren’t rock-solid chances, though, more like half moments. One saw a great Tom Bayliss run down the middle, laying the ball off to Reeco, who fired over. He was flagged offside, tight, but he still blazed the ball over the bar. Hackett then provided for Bayliss, but the outcome was the same – high and wide.

That woke Orient up again, and they had two good chances, one that brought the goal. Connolly drew a good save from Wickens, as they pressed home their possession advantage, before Craig’s cross was nodded up and over Wickens into the net. It wasn’t against the run of play as such, but certainly against the run of chances. Up until the Connolly chance, their xG was below 0.10, and even after the goal, the cumulative quality of all their chances was still lower than the two we missed inside four minutes.

What does that tell us? Score those chances, even one of them, and Orient would have been struggling to get anything back. Okay, maybe game state changes and we sit off a bit, but even after their goal, I didn’t feel they were a massive threat. Sure, they led and sure, as we pushed forward, they had a couple more chances on the break, but I couldn’t see anything in Orient’s overall play that I felt was threatening. I didn’t feel this Orient side were as good as last season, and (this may surprise a few) I don’t think they are as good as the team we beat home and away the season before.

That is what makes it more frustrating, because I guarantee they’ll have said the same about us. We deserve to be sixth based on results, maybe tenth on the basis of performances, but yesterday, we didn’t justify either. The second half just saw us break down as a unit, in my opinion, and while Michael Skubala reacted quickly to make changes, they didn’t change a huge amount. Rob Street, who had been anonymous for much of the game, was replaced by James Collins, who was also anonymous. Towler came off to give us additional width down the right with Lembikisa, but I felt it not only nullified Tendayi’s input switching to the left, but Lembikisa had limited input on his flank.

On the highlights, their goal is the last meaningful action of the half, and I suppose in a way, it was. There were decent chances as we pressed on later, with Frankie Okoronkwo getting the very best. Tendayi saw his shot blocked, Tom Hamer flicked it back in with a delicious backheel, and the Everton loanee had time to watch the ball drop, only to spoon it high over the goal. If one of him, Bayliss, McGrandles or House had been slightly more clinical, we’d have taken a deserved (on the balance of chances) draw. Ifs and buts, nothing more.

Watching the highlights back, and looking at the numbers, we deserved a draw, but watching the game in real time, I didn’t feel like we did. Not because of the game itself, but because we fell short of the standards we’ve worked to in recent games. Our pass accuracy was 65%, the lowest since the opening day of the season. Even our lateral passing was poor, 67%, which means three in ten of our sideways passes even missed the mark. The last time the figure was that bad? Reading at home. We did not take care of the ball in possession, and for a side that doesn’t have a lot of possession, you need to be cute when you do have it.

Also, we just didn’t get as much from our press as they did. Our PPDA was 10.71, higher than our yearly average of 9.94, but theirs was 4.91 – the lowest figure of 2025. They pressed us hard, not giving us any time on the ball on the rare occasion that we did get it.

I also felt there were gaps on the field. How many times did we do our usual stalwart defending, only for the ball to drop to an empty space marshalled by a red shirt? It got frustrating watching the ball drop into a big expanse of green, only for a red shirt to pick it up, not a blue top in sight. I think the eye test probably makes that a little worse than it was, but it just felt like we got penned in, without the opposition really doing much when they had us there.

I think the final whistle brought a bit of relief to everyone. I suspect if we were still playing now, it would be 1-0, Orient happy to have taken a goal from lower xG, us still huffing and puffing, maybe occasionally sending something into orbit. It was an off day, not the first we’ve had in London this season. In fact, we’re without a win in six meetings with London clubs, stretching back to beating Orient 2-1 at ours last season, and without a win in the capital since November 2023 (and that game we were initially set to lose until the tragic events at Brisbane Road saw the first game abandoned with them 1-0 up).

Also, this might be controversial, but how many Remembrance services are needed at football matches? I’m respectful of the sacrifices made by the few for the betterment of the many, but by the time we get to Rotherham on November 8th, we will have had three, maybe four, with Barnsley falling on November 11th. I’ll just leave that out there, respectfully.

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