Stand up if you hate Gloucester!
Our spy reports on Leyton Orient 0 Cheltenham 2
With our FA Cup opponents Cheltenham playing in London last weekend, we naturally enough had a spy at the game. London Claret
Katherine Last undertook a scouting mission to Brisbane Road. She reports on her findings below.
I felt it my duty, as a dedicated Claret, to visit Brisbane Road and observe the coming Sunday's FA Cup opponents, and take notes with the intention of making my observations available to fellow Clarets. Here goes...
Duly arrived at Brisbane Road at 2pm, as it's only five stops on the tube from us! Found our seats in the West Stand, right in the corner. These seats have no backs. It didn't affect me, though, as I rarely lean back against them anyway. I skimmed the Cheltenham pages. Neil Howarth and Mark Yates are both mentioned as having been at Burnley. Unfortunately, we also discovered that a Keith Hill made over 100 appearances for B*****ds (and Rochdale). At about 2.35, a rather large man walked in, wearing a very dirty coat. Normally I wouldn't have glanced at him twice, but this particular coat had a B*****ds badge on it! I just knew it was going to be one of those days, especially when he radio told us that di Branchio was starting for the Clarets at Turf Moor.
Both teams start out in a 4-4-2 formation, and Orient kick off. Cheltenham don't look very impressive, as they give the ball straight back to Orient whenever they gain possession. Orient seem to be playing well.
Cheltenham win a free kick and spend a long time mucking about before the actually take it, presumably trying to play mind games with the Orient players. At this point the Cheltenham fans, about 100-150 of them (more than Grimsby brought to Burnley!) are producing rather more noise than the home fans.
Cheltenham corner number two, and Michael Duff makes a dodging run into the box, but fails to make an impression on the O's defence. There's a lot of use of heads among the Robins, and they don't do much more than the familiar Burnley away plan of 'boot it and run'. No. 19, Julian Alsop, shoves Orient no. 2 Matthew Joseph over, but nothing is given, angering Orient fans.
A few minutes later, one of the Cheltenham players (couldn't see who, as it was up the other end of the pitch) makes a diving header to prevent Orient from scoring. Ex-Claret Yates then gets a nice pass in! By this time Cheltenham are more settled and are having more possession. One of the St. John Ambulance men kicks the ball back to Orient keeper Barrett as the ball boy is too lazy! The VERY tall Julian Alsop does an Ian Moore and runs up to the keeper.
Several times the Cheltenham players climb on the Orient players, but this goes unnoticed. Alsop goes down injured, but returns a couple of minutes later, perfectly fine. Slight panic when Barrett kicks the ball at Naylor, who kicks it straight back at the Orient keeper!
Things suddenly get worse. News filters through via the radio that Wednesday have taken the lead at Turf Moor. Cue silent expletives. Then worse still. Duff hits the post, and the ball bounces straight to the feet of Jamie Victory, Cheltenham no. 3. 39 minutes gone, and 1-0 to Cheltenham as Victory thumps it in.
News comes through that Ipswich have missed a penalty at Derby. Man Utd go one up at Old Trafford; Gills 1-0 up at Deepdale. One minute of added time.
Cheltenham kick off the second half, straight out for an Orient throw in. Cries of "You're supposed to be at home" ring out from Robins fans. Orient are getting worse; they need Glen Little down the right. Derby also miss a penalty. Cheltenham make several attacks, none of which Orient deal with very well. Neither side is good, although Cheltenham have a bit more of an edge than the home side.
Cries of "Stand up if you hate Gloucester" echo from the away fans (Gloucester being about three divisions below). Alsop is proving a handful for the already dire Orient defence. It's now level at Old Trafford. Cheltenham are sitting back a bit now, but it doesn't really matter, as Orient's performance is still declining. O's make a substitution, and are throwing more players forward in a desperate attempt to get an increasingly unlikely equaliser. Grayson attempts (and fails) to do some Prosinecki-style fancy stuff with his feet.
68 minutes, and Cheltenham get the second goal. Taunts of "We can see you sneaking out," as quite a few people seem to be heading for the exits. Alsop gets away with more climbing. They have a chance of a third, but nothing comes of it. The Robins are defending more now, although they don't really have to do much. Another Orient substitution, and it's still boot-and-run from both teams.
GARETH TAYLOR EQUALISES FROM THE PENALTY SPOT! Careful not to be obvious, as nothing is happening on the pitch in front of us.
Duff's climbing again (no relation to Damien at Deadwood?); Cheltenham are getting away with an awful lot, and Book in goal is doing a bit of time wasting. An obvious Victory handball (right in front of us) is unseen. Man Utd now 2-1 up. Now only a few minutes left, and the Orient fans are leaving in (small) droves.
The Cheltenham defence is pretty solid, although Orient don't do much to threaten. Orient waste a golden opportunity by blasting the ball over the bar. Three minutes added.
Wretched Kuqi scores in injury time and Wednesday still have some time to miss a penalty. Cue expletives again. Why does this always happen to us!
Points to bear in mind:
- Cheltenham will probably play a different game at home.
- They will probably up the level of their game against a quality First Division side.
Up the Clarets!
Teams (sorry - can't remember the order in which they lined up):
Orient - Scott Barrett, Matthew Joseph, Matthew Lockwood, Dean Smith (c), David McGhee, Andy Harris, Steve Watts, Jeff Minton. John Martin, Wayne Gray, Danny Barnard.
Cheltenham - Steve Book, Michael Duff, Jamie Victory, Chris Banks (c), Mark Yates, Neil Grayson, Anthony Griffin, Martin Devaney, Julian Alsop, Tony Naylor, Lee Williams.
Referee: G K Hegley.
Attendance: 4,868.
Katherine Last
January 2002
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