Peterborough United - Play Off Semi Final 1st Leg - 10th May

Honours are still even after the first leg.

The Match - On a pitch more akin to the Battle of the Somme than a professional football team, both teams battled it out to try and get a hold of the semi final. As it turns out, we're no closer to finding out who will be heading to Wembley on the 25th. But still, with the O's creating enough chances to win the game, if we can play on Tuesday like we did today then who knows if we'll be hearing Rocking All Over The World?

The London Road Pitch

Assombalonga unsurprisingly got himself another goal, his 33rd in all competitions, but whilst we prefer to spend £1.5 million on a new stand rather than a striker, he was kept relatively quiet by Clarke and Baudry.

There were several occasions throughout the game where a steadier foot on the difficult surface could have led to a goal, particularly in the first half. Mooney, Cox and Lisbie all had great opportunities in front of goal only to find themselves face down on the turf with the ball scrambled away. 

The Players - So much has been made of the team spirit this season, and once again it came to the fore. It was great to see the players and staff gathered in a huddle after the game, a show of unity that is rarely seen on the pitch.

Mo fully deserved his man of the match award for the way he tormented the full back throughout the second half. It wasn't the most convincing of tap-ins for the goal, but we'll let him off.

The defence was solid as always. As previously mentioned, Clarke and Baudry kept Assombalonga relatively quiet whilst Cuthbert had another superb game at right back. 

The Manager - At times this season, the changes that Slade has made have left some fans scratching their heads. Today, he got it absolutely spot on. With Lundstram struggling on the difficult pitch, he replaced him with James and Batt was brought on for the tiring Lisbie. Both players had a part in the move for the goal so hats off to Slade for getting it right. 

Hats off

Up Next -  The second leg. With the game at home and hopefully on a much better pitch, we should be able to get the ball down more than we were perhaps able to today. It's only half time, there's still a long way to go, plenty of football left to play and a whole host of other clichés still on their way. Hopefully Sir Alex will make an appearance this time. 

Up the O's!

Follow me on Twitter! - @lauriehann

Colchester United - 1st March 2014

Orient gain victory over Colchester but drop to 2nd in League One.

A quick review - This game was billed as the A12 derby before kick-off. The Hearns seem to know their stuff when it comes to sports promotion, but I think even this was a step too far for them. Anyway, in a derby that is rivalled only be the El Clasico, it was Orient who came out on top to secure a hugely important 3 points.

After a lively opening in which efforts on goal were pretty limited, it was Orient who took the lead through Mooney as he rifled an unstoppable shot past the keeper following a Cox cross. It was no more than Orient deserved as they restricted Colchester to long range efforts and set pieces.

In the second half, Colchester threw caution to the wind in the search of an equaliser and if it wasn't for some heroics from Jakupovic, we could've found ourselves level much earlier than we did. Eventually Colchester did get a deserved equaliser, Marcus Bean heading home despite Jakupovic's best attempts to save it. It was poor defending in the build up though, as Dickson was given too much time to pick a cross on the left.

Thankfully Colchester showed some tactical naivety as they went in search of a winner, and it was from this that Orient were able to break with pace firstly through Batt, who bundled the ball through to Odubajo who finished confidently.

It wasn't a great performance by the O's, but it was a massive result with Brentford dropping points at Carlisle.

Man of the match - the match sponsors gave the award to Moses, who in fairness did have a good game but personally, I'd have given it to Eldin. His triple save at the start of the second half was something special as he denied Massey. The transformation he's brought to the side has been phenomenal with his commanding presence giving the defence a much needed confidence boost after the 3 consecutive defeats in February. I also particularly enjoyed the way he fell to the ground after claiming a cross late in the 2nd half.

On the other hand, Jabo showed all the reasons why we love him. His turn on the touchline to get away from Sawyer, run 40 yards to goal then pass it to a player about 25 yards out summed him up quite perfectly. As much as we'd all love him to come back, I don't think he's as good as what we currently have, but he was a proper handful for Clarke and Cuthbert, and it was nice that he acknowledged the great reception he got after the game.

What next? - Notts County. With only 12 games remaining it doesn't take a genius to work out that every game is vitally important. Our next two games are away at teams who still have something to play for. Notts County are scrapping for their lives, and they will be keen to make amends for the thrashing they got off Rotherham yesterday. Port Vale also still have an outside chance of sneaking a play-off spot. All we can do is focus on what we're doing, and if we can grind out another win it will keep the pressure on the teams around us. 

Up the O's!

Follow me on Twitter! - @lauriehann