Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens has questioned if his side could have done more to influence their match with Stevenage on Saturday, with The O’s having to settle for a point on the road in Hertfordshire.
The 0-0 draw at The Lamex only included 7 shots in the entire game, with just one shot on target for each team and also 22 fouls, as the 12:30 kickoff was very stop-start and grew a reputation of a lot of long balls from both goalkeepers, with no real end product.
When speaking to club media, Wellens was insistent that despite the boring spectacle, it was still a point gained on the road:
“Whenever you come here you have to fight and scrap and win duels and even more so with the conditions and fair play to both sets of players because the endeavor and attitudes that they showed was really good”
“You want to come here and be up for the battle but you also want to get the ball down and control the game, but every time we did that we turned the ball over and they put it down the sides of us over the top of us but to come away from here with a point is a point gained, 3 clean sheets in 4 helps us build momentum”
It was the third goalless draw between these sides in the last three years and there were growing frustrations from both supporters as the game went on, with no real sight of goal for either side. Orient have now moved into the relegation zone following wins for Crawley Town and Wigan Athletic but do have at least one game in hand on the sides above them, and Wellens was visibly adamant that more could have been done to have secured all three points at Stevenage.
“Transition moments, we pressed them a lot in the last 25 minutes and there were loads of opportunities to pick a pass, to get a cross in and we turn it down, that’s why there were very little penalty box opportunities, it was a rubbish game.”
Up next for Orient it’s three home games in league and cup, with Tuesday visits from Huddersfield Town and Bristol Rovers sandwiching the Fa Cup second-round tie with National League side Oldham Athletic, so it is a real chance to build on recent momentum and get out of the bottom four as well as secure a spot in the lucrative third round of the cup.
Writers View:
You do not expect an enthralling game to when you go to The Lamex, especially when you are Leyton Orient, Wellens seemed unsurprised in his interview that it was such a scrappy game so a point doesn’t seem like too bad of a result if they win in midweek.
A point on the road when you are down at the bottom of the table is never a bad result, and Orient will be looking to push on now as we head into the festive period of football.
