Bury's defensive coach |
A game in which... Orient did what they had to do - assuming what they had to do was offer one of the division's worst sides repeated chances to score. Thankfully Bury couldn't shoot for toffee, while at the other end their defence appeared to have been coached by Clayton Fortune, Joe Dolan and C3PO, such was the scuttling panic that ensued whenever the ball popped into their area.
So this was no classic, but a win is a win. And while results elsewhere surely mean that the play-offs are out of reach, all the team can do is rack up as many points as possible in the remaining four games and see whether we finish nine or tenth.
Moment of magic... The moment towards the end of the second half when Shaun Batt showed what a great talent he possesses. That talent is in wrestling, mind you, rather than football for the loanee showed immense strength in grappling with Bury left back David Worrall then chokeslamming him to the ground like he was auditioning for WWE Smackdown.
Moment of madness... The moment in the first half when the ball plummeted from the sky towards the waiting boot of David Mooney with a small invitation attached to it that read "Just volley me into the net". But who, apart from every Orient fan ever, could have predicted what would happen next? Would he scuff it towards the corner post? Would he miss it completely? Would it hit him on the back of the head after he'd tripped himself over? In the event the Irishman managed to confound all expectations by skewing the ball straight back in the air, something that a lesser player would have found particularly difficult to execute. All hail the Moons.
Orient's defence |
Knight in shining armour... With Orient's centre backs dropping like flies - today both Baudry and Omozusi came off injured - thank God for Nathan Clarke, who's now single-handedly holding the defence together with some sticky tape, a couple of plasters and Gary Sawyer. The captain was a level-headed presence today and will be critical to Orient's chances of ending the season with a positive goal difference for the first time in their entire history.
Pantomime horse... Bitterly cold winds, the second match in four days and a bobbling, raggedy pitch. These are the conditions Lee Cook relishes - as long as he's safely at home wrapped in a onesie and watching Top Gear rather than actually playing football. Yes, it's fair to say the winger didn't fancy it today and approached the game with all the enthusiasm of a minor royal forced to visit a sewage works on a ceremonial tour of Siberia.
In the dug out... "The maths is simple," said Russell Slade after Friday's loss against Scunthorpe. "That's right," agreed Jimmy Smith. "Five games left, 33 points up for grabs and we're just 19 off the play-offs - so a win and seven draws should do it. LEGOOO!" And while the manager seemed to want to sabotage the very slim chances of making sixth spot by leaving Rowlands and Vincelot on the bench in favour of James and the aforementioned Smith, you have to give him credit for masterminding Orient's 12th home win of the season - a record bettered only by Brentford in League One.
View from the opposition... "Any sensible Orient fan knows they didn't deserve to win that," tweeted Bury fan Jake Wadsworth to the seven supporters to which that description applies. "We had so many chances but can't score to save our lives."
Meanwhile on Twitter... A revealing insight into the life of Mathieu Baudry this week when he tweeted "The mrs abondonned me so... i have to look after myself" So, as this picture demonstrates, the Frenchman did what any self-respecting footballer would do and, erm, put on his girlfriend's dressing gown and slippers and settled down to watch Bridget Jones's Diary on Netflix. Vive la difference, Mathieu!
Statto corner... Orient's 12 home wins so far this season is their best since 1937/38, when the team won every game but one at Brisbane Road. "To be fair, we'd neglected to tell the league we'd just moved stadiums so opposition teams never turned up," said manager Peter Proudfoot. "Despite this, we still somehow managed to lose to Scunthorpe."