Glovers boss Steve Thompson made just the one change to the starting eleven that drew at Gillingham on Saturday, with Arron Davies replacing the injured Darren Way, allowing Paul Terry to move into the centre, whilst Davies occupied Terry's former role as a winger. Orient manager Martin Ling made many more changes to his line-up, although this was mainly in the form of a couple of forced injuries along with promoting Saturday's 'bench' to the starting line-up.

This was Yeovil's fifth meeting against Leyton Orient in just over two years, and with tickets for the match priced at a whopping 16 pounds for a fringe competition, it was not surprising that the majority of London E10 decided that watching Champions League football on TV was a more worthy decision. Compare and contrast Orient's policy of keeping prices fixed at League Two levels, with Yeovil's Saturday opponents Gillingham who had the sense to set prices for their tie at just £8, while under 11s accompanied by an adult got in free.

The end result was the smallest crowd (outside the County Cup) to watch Yeovil play in a competitive match since the Glovers played Northwich Victoria at Witton's Wincham Park ground in December 2002, making the atmosphere at the Matchroom Stadium (that's Brisbane Road to you and me) more like the Crucible, Sheffield - perhaps perfect surroundings for snooker promoter and Orient Chairman Barry Hearn.

A suitably quiet start saw Matt Harrold skew the ball off for a goal-kick whilst Efe Echanomi did the same for the home side at the other end. Echanomi, who was sent off in the last meeting between the two clubs for an off-the-ball elbow, seemed a far more matured player and was the main thorn in Yeovil's side throughout the night with his pace. Chris Weale just about beat him to a 50:50 ball that saw Echanomi lying injured on the goal-line, whilst minutes later he had recovered enough to force Wealey to parry his shot, with the ball skidding out towards the corner flag.

Derek Duncan landed in the book for a foul in Kevin Amankwaah as Yeovil finally began to exert some pressure on the Orient goal from around the midway point of the half. Phil Jevons had a scissor-kick blocked for a corner, whilst Pablo Bastianini had claims for a penalty turned down after he appeared to get a shove in the back and to make matters worse when the ball broke free to Paul Terry, the Argentinian's position on the deck provided a block on his team-mate's low drive. Terry then repeated the shot a couple of minutes later, this time forcing Orient keeper Glenn Morris to grasp the ball at the second attempt.

At the other end, Chris Weale had to palm the ball over his own crossbar when Justin Miller got his head on a ball in from the left. But from that corner, what had started to become Yeovil's first stamp of authority upon the game mattered little as Christian HANSON picked up a loose ball on the back post, found his first attempt blocked, then thrashed in the rebound from a narrow angle to put Orient 1-0 up with 37 minutes gone. At last the Orient church mice in the crowd found their voice, or at least one that went above singular shouts of "dive, dive, dive" - a rather tedious throwback to Yeovil's last meeting at Brisbane Road where Yeovil suffered three forced substitutions as a result of injuries sustained by Orient fouls, with a selection of home fans coming up with their own interpretation of the reasons for those injuries. At least now, Orient fans had a game they could concentrate on.

Echanomi again was at the heart of Orient's forward play as the half drew to a close, managing one flicked header that was hacked away on the back post by a Yeovil defender, then forcing Wealey into a save on his near post, forcing the ball out for a corner, as Yeovil's brief moment of authority upon the game subsided and the home side's confidence grew. Paul Terry picked up his second booking in two games when he committed a late challenge on the edge of the area, but nothing came of the free kick.

Phil Jevons was proving to be Yeovil's best hope of getting back into the game, and his diving header just past the interval was well saved by Glenn Morris and sent out for a corner. At the other end Wayne Carlisle curled a free kick around the Yeovil wall, but found it striking the outside of the goalframe and out for a goal kick. Meanwhile Paul Terry was lucky to escape with a finger-wagging when he committed another poor challenge whilst already on a yellow card but fortunately for the Glovers, referee Gary Lewis placed him on a final warning.

Pablo Bastianini was having a better half than he had in the first 45 minutes, and he saw Arron Davies put him through behind the Orient defence, but his attempt on goal went narrowly wide of the far post. His striking partner Matt Harrold had a fairly anonymous 63 minutes and was replaced by Kevin Gall. Perhaps the only surprise was that Paul Terry wasn't pulled off to safeguard him from that "one last tackle" but the midfielder kept a cool head for the rest of the game, not risking anything that would incur the wrath of the Man in Black.

Funny that Orient fans should keep up their ten month old pretence of injustice from last December, for it was their pacey striker Efe Echanomi who committed the game's most likely spot of gamesmanship when he rather optimistically fell over under a challenge from Efetobore Sodje. One only hopes that in the interests of fairness and Corinthian Spirit that Mr "Dive, Dive, Dive" in the South Stand was continuing his campaign for fairness in football. Referee Mr Lewis looked rather unimpressed, as did Echanomi's team-mates.

No difficulty in making a decision though for Mr Lewis on 70 minutes when Colin Miles made a rash challenge on Gary Alexander, of the sort that even the most parochial of Glovers fans would have said "Yep, I might just give them that one". Miles surprisingly escaped without a booking, and Chris Weale threw Yeovil a lifeline when he made a terrific save from Alexander's blasted penalty, using his legs to flash the ball over the bar.

Pablo Bastianini tried to put pressure on Orient at the other end, forcing Morris into parrying his shot, and when the ball rebounded out, it just wouldn't fall to a Yeovil man in open space, with Lee Johnson and Arron Davies both trying to create room for themselves, but never quite getting there.

But as the game gradually slipped away from Yeovil, Gary ALEXANDER made amends for his earlier penalty attempt by sealing the tie for Orient with 14 minutes remaining. Accepting a pass from the right wing after Orient had broken away from a Yeovil side now attempting to push up in numbers, Alexander evaded Efetobore Sodje's last ditch sliding tackle to drive the ball home past Chris Weale.

Nathan Jones and Luciano Alvarez were introduced as Yeovil's final two substitutions of the evening as an attempt was made to claw something out of a game that was in the main going all Orient's way. Paul Terry got the ball in the back of the net, although the whistle had already blown for a foul on Phil Jevons on the edge of the area. Jevons produced a curling free kick that looped a yard over the bar.

Things got worse in the closing minutes when Yeovil were reduced to ten men after Efe Echanomi collided with Efetobore Sodje, with the latter coming off worse in the challenge, suffering knee ligament damage. After an excessive wait, he was helped off the field and into a wheelchair where he was wheeled down the tunnel for the end of his game.

Down to ten men, Yeovil did at least keep going, with Pablo Bastianini looping a header from a left wing cross towards goal, only to find Glenn Morris palming the ball away from the target. Into injury time, Yeovil's evening was summed up when Pablo Bastianini squirmed his way past two Orient players, put in an excellent shot that Morris could only parry, leaving the ball to float up nicely for Phil Jevons and what looked to be a certain headed goal, were it not for Morris producing the save of the match as he palmed the Yeovil striker's header away whilst still on the deck.

Looking back on the match, the Glovers did create enough chances to have done a little better than the scoreline suggests. However, this was in truth really only a performance tonight by half the team. Several players just never really got going on the night. Whether this was due to Orient's scurrying play, or down to individuals being unable to fully motivate themselves in front of such a tiny crowd, it is difficult to say, but despite having a number of good chances, it would have been very difficult to justify Yeovil getting anything out of the game. Doubtless the attitude will be different for Saturday's game against Forest, but will those under-performers have justified their place in the side in the eyes of the manager?

Back to Top of Page