Brisbane Road - Leyton Orient FC
Leyton Orient 1-1 Walsall
02/03/12 - League One
Att: 4,183
An otherwise free Saturday, plus cheap tickets via an offer in The Sun and my Walsall-supporting mate Dan coming down to London all lead to my third trip to Brisbane Road to take in the match, with Orient having a disappointing season and Walsall in desperate need of points as they battle relegation. Trains were organised, tickets were bought and I was very much looking forward to the trip.
As with last week's trip to Charlton, a Friday evening drinking session and the hangover that followed it threw my travel plans up in the air, as I woke up on a living room floor in Fleet an hour before I was due to catch the train to London. With very little sleep and probably still over the limit, I drove home, got showered and eventually made it to the station, catching the slightly later train at 10:30. My breakfast consisted of four packets of crisps, three kit-kats, two chocolate bars and a can of Irn Bru - All of which I found in a carrier bag on my bedroom floor as I was getting dressed. In all honesty, it gave me a bit of a stomach ache, but it gave me something to do on the fast train to Waterloo, which only stopped at Woking and arrived at around 11 o'clock. From there it was a straight forward trip up the Northern line to Euston to meet Dan, before heading back down the Northern line to Tottenham Court Road, before going on to Leyton, arriving around midday.
I've visited Leyton Orient before and the town was as I remembered, a bit run down but with plenty of places to eat and drink and the ground wasn't far from the tube station at all. After heading down to the ground to have a look around, we went into town and found a bookies. After winning on the roulette I decided to have a punt on the match, baring in mind the last two times I'd watched Walsall it finished 1-1, I decided to put £3 on this same result, spending the rest of my winnings on lunch and a beer or two.
After having lunch we went back to the ground and into the supporters club, where we had a few beers and watched the early kick off between Liverpool and Arsenal. It was pleasant enough, but with a stinking hangover and the lunchtime kebab still sitting in my stomach, the beer didn't go down too well and we decided to make our way into the ground.
It's an odd looking ground, having been re-built on three sides in recent years there are apartment blocks in the corners, which makes it feel more like a hotel than a stadium. The West Stand looks quite imposing from the outside and on the opposite side, the rear of the away stand is the last remaining part that looks like a traditional football ground. While it's traditional, it's not exactly comfortable and after going into the ground we took our place on the wooden seats that are given to the visitors, with a supporting pillar blocking part of the pitch.
The other three sides, which were re-built between 1999 and 2008, are all very modern looking and come together to form a tidy venue for lower league football. On our left, the Tommy Johnson Stand is the oldest of the three, it's tidy looking stand which is raised up from the pitch, meaning supporters have to climb steps to reach the seated area. Opposite the West Stand is the largest part of the ground, which is slightly strange looking with a large wall at the back, which contains the club offices and media facilities. On the right is the South Stand, which is similar to the North Stand, a decent sized covered seated stand and is the newest part of the ground. With a capacity of 9,271 it's a good ground for a club of Orient's size.
After missing out on the play offs by a single point last season, Leyton Orient have had a disappointing campaign this time around and going into this game The O's were 16th and being only 7 points above the drop zone, relegation is still a lingering possibility. Their opponents Walsall completed a great escape last season, securing their survival on the final day, finishing a point ahead of Dagenham & Redbridge despite being 9 points adrift of safety at one stage. Despite a good finish to the season, The Saddlers have struggled again this term and going into this game were outside the bottom four on goal difference alone, but were in decent form following important wins against Wycombe and Scunthorpe, as well as a well earned draw at Preston.
As the teams took the field there wasn't a great deal of enthusiasm around the ground, despite the best efforts of the PA man and the Leyton Orient cheerleaders, the "Cheerio's" to get the crowd going. Orient were in their red home kits, with Walsall in their away colours of black. Brisbane Road was bathed in sunshine as the game got underway, with the visitors making a bright start.
For all their possession and territory, they lacked the necessary quality to really threaten Orient and it was the home side who took the lead, slightly against the run of play, after 34 minutes following some shambolic defending from the visitors. A long ball wasn't dealt with before 'keeper and defended collided, leaving Cox with a simple finish. Before the break Orient were reduced to 10 men Solomon Taiwo was sent off for a lunge on Cuvelier. In the modern game it was a red card, a bit like Vincent Kompany's against Man Utd, but while he went in high and with studs showing, he took the ball. The home fans were incensed, but Walsall were handed a numerical advantage heading into the second half.
It was an advantage that they didn't really take, despite having plenty of the ball chances were at a premium and Orient had two great chances to wrap up the points, but were denied by Grof in the Walsall goal. With time running out Taundry had a long range effort saved and the resulting corner fell to the head of Olly Lancashire who salvaged a point for The Saddlers, much to the delight of the 281 travelling fans.
There was no time at all for Orient to react and it was a point-a-piece, which I think was a fair reflection on the game. The Walsall players were given a warm applause from the away supporters at the final whistle and we went back into the supporters club after the match for a few beers, where there was a friendly atmosphere despite the way the game finished.
At half time in the Leeds v Southampton match we went to the bookies where I collected my winnings and from there we went to the Coach & Horses, which was a nice pub and we watched the rest of the match, while drinking the winnings. We eventually left the pub at around 8pm, leading to Dan missing his train back to Birmingham, but thankfully my journey back was quite straight forward.
This was my third visit to Brisbane Road and while it's easily accessible and easy on the eye, there's something missing for me. For some reason the atmosphere's always seemed flat, even for the sell out visit of Leeds United that I attended in 2009/10, with no obvious standing/singing area within the ground the home fans don't seem to eager to get behind their team. But having said that, it's a friendly club and there's never been a hint of trouble, which makes it a ground worth visiting.
After missing out on the play offs by a single point last season, Leyton Orient have had a disappointing campaign this time around and going into this game The O's were 16th and being only 7 points above the drop zone, relegation is still a lingering possibility. Their opponents Walsall completed a great escape last season, securing their survival on the final day, finishing a point ahead of Dagenham & Redbridge despite being 9 points adrift of safety at one stage. Despite a good finish to the season, The Saddlers have struggled again this term and going into this game were outside the bottom four on goal difference alone, but were in decent form following important wins against Wycombe and Scunthorpe, as well as a well earned draw at Preston.
As the teams took the field there wasn't a great deal of enthusiasm around the ground, despite the best efforts of the PA man and the Leyton Orient cheerleaders, the "Cheerio's" to get the crowd going. Orient were in their red home kits, with Walsall in their away colours of black. Brisbane Road was bathed in sunshine as the game got underway, with the visitors making a bright start.
For all their possession and territory, they lacked the necessary quality to really threaten Orient and it was the home side who took the lead, slightly against the run of play, after 34 minutes following some shambolic defending from the visitors. A long ball wasn't dealt with before 'keeper and defended collided, leaving Cox with a simple finish. Before the break Orient were reduced to 10 men Solomon Taiwo was sent off for a lunge on Cuvelier. In the modern game it was a red card, a bit like Vincent Kompany's against Man Utd, but while he went in high and with studs showing, he took the ball. The home fans were incensed, but Walsall were handed a numerical advantage heading into the second half.
It was an advantage that they didn't really take, despite having plenty of the ball chances were at a premium and Orient had two great chances to wrap up the points, but were denied by Grof in the Walsall goal. With time running out Taundry had a long range effort saved and the resulting corner fell to the head of Olly Lancashire who salvaged a point for The Saddlers, much to the delight of the 281 travelling fans.
There was no time at all for Orient to react and it was a point-a-piece, which I think was a fair reflection on the game. The Walsall players were given a warm applause from the away supporters at the final whistle and we went back into the supporters club after the match for a few beers, where there was a friendly atmosphere despite the way the game finished.
At half time in the Leeds v Southampton match we went to the bookies where I collected my winnings and from there we went to the Coach & Horses, which was a nice pub and we watched the rest of the match, while drinking the winnings. We eventually left the pub at around 8pm, leading to Dan missing his train back to Birmingham, but thankfully my journey back was quite straight forward.
This was my third visit to Brisbane Road and while it's easily accessible and easy on the eye, there's something missing for me. For some reason the atmosphere's always seemed flat, even for the sell out visit of Leeds United that I attended in 2009/10, with no obvious standing/singing area within the ground the home fans don't seem to eager to get behind their team. But having said that, it's a friendly club and there's never been a hint of trouble, which makes it a ground worth visiting.
Rear of the West Stand
Club Shop
The Tommy Johnston Stand
The West Stand
The North Stand
Teams line up
Post match applause
A panoramic view of Brisbane Road
Cheers!
