The annual trip to see Leyton Orient play, which took place in the pouring rain, as is traditional. We arrived in the ground early, to take advantage of the Arsenal match being shown on the big screen in the bar. We had £35 "gallery" tickets again, which gave easy access to a nicely stocked bar, and some lovely salt beef sandwiches for £4 a throw. The gallery also had heating, which was a big bonus on a pretty disgusting day for weather. Shortly after the Arsenal game finished (in disappointment, for the umpteenth time this season so far), we went outside to brave the elements and watch the third division football on offer. It was raining hard, and the pitch was very wet indeed, which added to the amusement value - footballers that aren't very good in the first place, don't get any better when they play on a pitch that kicks up spray every time you touch the ball. So, there was a lot of slipping and sliding around, which made the tackles seem even clumsier and less skillful. What might be a yellow card in the Premiership and Champions League, you are lucky to get a free kick for at this level.
Early on in the game, the weather claimed its first casualty - the linesman slipped and pulled a muscle, which required 5 minutes of treatment before he was replaced by the fourth official. Either that or he didn't fancy standing in the cold, so he faked it. That was an unusual thing to see, and it added to the amusement of those around me, that we were watching something quite amateurish (although of course a linesman at any level can get injured). From a refereeing point of view, the rest of the game was no less lively, with a penalty and a red card to add to the list of incidents.
Orient and Cheltenham, both towards the bottom of the division, were fairly evenly matched, and so the game was quite tight. Cheltenham took the lead in the first half, before Orient equalised through what looked like a rightly awarded penalty. Then, in the second half, Cheltenham got the winner, with a goal that reminded me of Wayne Bridge's Champions League winner at Highbury in 2004 - painful memories there! We were sat just behind the benches, so we got to experience the crazy antics of Cheltenham manager Martin "mad dog" Allen - he shouted like a nutter throughout, but it obviously worked, because he got the result.
Orient players were booed off at the end, after a disappointing performance, where they created little, but still contrived to miss a couple of really good chances. JJ Melligan provided most of their creativity on the right hand side, but (like many flair players) absolutely did not fancy the parts of the game that required slightly more work. He went missing when Cheltenham scored the winner, and even changed his kit at one point, because it got wet. A good player, who annoyed defenders when he ran at them with the ball (the red card for the away team came when somebody clattered him), but something of a tart apart from that. This was a pretty big win for Cheltenham, so their fans were making all the noise when the game finished - as the Orient fans skulked away, muttering under their breath about the missed chances to win the game.
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