The O’s won against Stevenage on Thursday 27th March despite an uninspiring performance, reports Luca Jarman

Leyton Orient came out winners against Stevenage at home on Thursday despite a disappointing display.

The O’s enjoy this win after a victory against Blackpool in their last game and have, on paper, turned their form around in the last two games, staking a late push for the playoff places.

But in truth, it certainly wasn’t the most actively encouraging of wins. The game started well, Orient were the better team in the first half, they always looked to be on the front foot, crafting attacks well and exploiting space out wide for their skillful wingers.

Their first big chance of the game came to Jordan Brown on the edge of the box after the ball was trickled into him from the wing, but he had almost too much time to strike the ball as he pulled it too far wide.

The O’s scored their goal in the twelth minute through striker Charlie Kelman who arrived at the right place at the right time to instinctively flick a header from a recycled corner into the net.

Things were smooth sailing and they were the team on top whilst Stevenage played like the inferior side, launching long balls forward, often to little avail. They struggled to piece attacks together and made it fairly easy for the home side.

However, the game flipped on its head in the second half as Stevenage came out aggressive and ended up creating the most chances of the game, especially as the clock ticked down.

Their best was left begging in the 55th minute after the ball was put across the area in front of an open net by Ben Kemp, with striker Jamie Reid unable to reach it, to leave the goal gaping.

Another big moment came as the ball was shot across the box and met the foot of substitute Harvey White whose tame shot was heroically clawed away by keeper Josh Keeley.

Leyton Orient will of course take the three points, but they must improve if they wish to seriously mount a playoff challenge. Stevenage, a team who’ve looked far from inspiring, especially in 2025 were the better side over the course of the game and would have out victorious if they had capitalized on their chances.

Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens, Credit: Luca Jarman

The O’s looked limp in midfield and toothless in attack, players would gather the ball on the wing and dawdle before putting a substandard cross in the box for no one to be on the end of.

In their previous match against Blackpool two weeks before, it was much of the same story. The seasiders missed a frankly comical number of huge chances leaving Orient to sheepishly shuffle to a vital three points.

Leyton Orient manager, Richie Wellens said: “We’ve not been great. Football is mad. The last two games have been the two worst performances we’ve had all season and we’ve got six points. No team in the world can play well every week, but you have to find
a way to keep winning.

“We’ll be fighting but we’re a developing club. No one expected us to be in and around this position and we’re massively overachieving. You only have to look at our subs; we brought on four subs with an average age of 20 years old. I also think injuries have impacted our performance.

“As a coach, you have 46 league games and want a lot of them to look really pretty but it will come down to four or five of those games where you’re not bothered by performance and want the result. Today was one of them.”

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