For the second game in a row Leyton Orient had to settle for a point despite being ahead, as AFC Wimbledon fought back to claim a 1-1 draw against ten-man Orient.

Jay Simpson continued his fine goalscoring form, bagging his 15th goal of the season to put the O’s ahead after just ten minutes. However, the home side were dealt a blow when John Marquis received a second yellow card just before the hour. AFC Wimbledon’s pressure eventually resulted in an equaliser with ten minutes to go, as Adebayo Akinfenwa headed home from close range.

Ian Hendon was able to name an unchanged starting lineup after Jay Simpson passed a fitness test. The O’s were also boosted by the return of their captain, however Mathieu Baudry was only named as a substitute so Sean Clohessy continued to wear the armband.

 

 

The O’s made a positive start as they created the first opportunity of the match from a flowing move. Jack Payne, lofted the ball to Clohessy on the right wing and the O’s full-back cushioned the ball to Bradley Pritchard. The Zimbabwean midfielder helped the ball into the box, finding Jay Simpson, but he couldn’t keep his header down.

However, Orient’s in-form striker made no mistake with his next chance. John Marquis drove forward into the Wimbledon half before sliding the ball through to his strike partner. Simpson took one touch and then fired a shot across the ‘keeper. Ben Wilson managed to get a hand to it but he couldn’t prevent the ball from reaching the corner of his net.

After 15 minutes John Marquis was booked after catching Jon Meades as he attempted to block his clearance.

AFC Wimbledon had struggled to get going in the early stages of the game but they were beginning to put Orient under pressure towards the end of the half.

First George Francomb had his shot blocked by Cole Kpekawa, then a deflected effort looked like it was going to loop into the top corner of the Orient net, but Alex Cisak was able to tip the ball over the crossbar. Just before the break the Orient defence just about managed to scramble the ball away when a half-chance came to Adebayo Akinfenwa.

 

 

Neal Ardley’s side picked up from where they had left off, as they started the second half on the front foot.

Francomb went close with a free-kick that rose over the hosts’ crossbar. He then had another chance shortly after but he fired the ball over.

The O’s were being forced deeper and deeper as the Dons dominated proceedings. Ian Hendon opted to replace Ollie Palmer with Mathieu Baudry, reverting to a 5-3-2 in a bid shore things up at the back.

However, that system did not last long as the O’s were reduced to ten men when John Marquis picked up a second yellow card for crashing into Paul Robinson.

Orient had already retreated a log way into their own half and the pressure only increased following the sending off. To make matters worse the O’s were not keeping hold of the ball either, meaning they faced wave after wave of Wimbledon attacks.

Jay Simpson’s thankless task of chasing down long balls came to end on 75 minutes as he was replaced by Blair Turgott.

Orient were still well and truly camped inside their own half and the visitors continued to pepper the O’s with crosses and shots. Jake Reeves tried his luck from just outside the penalty area but fortunately he couldn’t keep his shot down.

Jon Meades may well have thought he had grabbed the equaliser when he met Barry Fuller’s cross, however Alex Cisak pulled off a superb save, pushing Meades’ close-range header over the bar.

The Australian goalkeeper eventually lost his clean sheet with ten minutes remaining. Ade Azeez lost his marker, allowing him time and space to chip a cross to the far post. Cisak couldn’t reach to palm the ball away and it made its way to the back post where Akinfenwa headed home to draw his side level.

The visitors pushed for the winner as they conitiuned to pump the ball into the Orient box.  Tom Elliott had a great opportunity to win it for the Dons but his header was straight at Cisak. The O’s had been under heavy pressure for the majority of the half but they did manage to hold on to a point.

 

Player Performances

Alex Cisak:

Cisak pulled off another great save late on. However, his kicking was poor kicking during the second half.

Sean Clohessy: 

Clohessy offered plenty of width down the right flank in the first half. He could possibly have done more at the back post to prevent the equaliser.

Cole Kpekawa:

Another good performance from the young defender. He coped well with the physicality of Akinfenwa and he put in a particularly good last-ditch tackle to deny the Dons a great opportunity. He perhaps should have tracked Azeez’s run in the build up to the goal.

Jean-Yves M’voto: 

M’voto put in another commanding shift in the heart of the O’s defence. He won a great deal in the air, repelling the numerous crosses that Wimbledon put into the Orient box.

Frazer Shaw: 

Shaw has improved since returning to the starting lineup and he was reasonably solid against the Dons. He showed a great bit of composure in the first half to get out of a difficult situation. However, the Don’s appeared to favour attacking down his flank in the second half so he and Moore were busy.

Jack Payne:

He didn’t manage to dictate the play quite as much as usual. He did try to break up play in the first half. Not one of his better games.

Bradley Pritchard:

Pritchard tried hard as usual but not a lot came off for him.

Sammy Moore (off after 95 minutes): 

Usually pretty consistent, but he looked below par against his former club.

John Marquis(sent off after 58 minutes):

Marquis did well to set up Simpson’s goal but his dismissal was avoidable and it made things even more difficult for the O’s.

Ollie Palmer (off after 56 minutes): 

Palmer worked hard as usual but he didn’t have much of an impact on the game.

Jay Simpson (off after 75 minutes): 

Scored the all-important goal, we’d be in real trouble without him. He didn’t get a great deal of service and had a thankless task in the second half.

Substitutes

Mathieu Baudry (on after 56 minutes):

Baudry helped Orient make a rare break forward to momentarily relieve the pressure. He did lose his man who would’ve scored had Cisak not made a great save.

Blair Turgott (on after 75 minutes): 

Like Simpson, he was up against it in the role he was given, however he could perhaps have offered a bit more.

Lloyd James (on after 95 minutes):

He didn’t really have enough time to make an impact.

 

Tactics and Playing Style

 

Leyton Orient played well for the first quarter of the match. They controlled the game and were very rarely troubled by AFC Wimbledon during that period. Orient’s goal was well created by Marquis and well taken by Jay Simpson who can’t stop scoring at the moment. However, during this period the O’s could have done more to create clear-cut chances and their inability to create a two-goal cushion came back to haunt them.

Last Saturday, Orient dropped deeper and deeper during the first half against York and they allowed the same thing to happen against AFC Wimbledon. As a result the Dons worked their way into the game and they enjoyed more of the play as the match approached half-time.

The O’s continued to struggle to get out after the break as well. Ian Hendon put Mathieu Baudry on for Ollie Palmer and switched from a 4-3-3 to a 5-3-2. The change in shape did somewhat invite more pressure, however the way in which the O’s played was the bigger problem rather than the shape.

Not only did the O’s sit deep, they also launched the ball forward at every opportunity, rather than make any attempt to retain possession. Jay Simpson had little chance of getting on the end of anything and he isolated against four Dons defenders. The Orient striker had little support as the midfield trio barely strayed from the edge of their own penalty area. Therefore all Orient’s approached served to do was to give the ball straight back to the opposition, who could then build attack after attack.

The dismissal of John Marquis naturally made things even more difficult for Orient, however going down to ten men made keeping the ball of even greater importance. Despite this, the O’s didn’t make any greater attempt to retain the ball and by this time the Orient back five were so deep they were almost in the trench in front of Tommy Johnston stand!

Overall it is difficult to see the logic behind Hendon’s approach. It seemed as if the ‘plan’ was to hope that the O’s could weather the storm and hope that Simpson (and later Turgott) could get on to a clearance and break forward. However, it is naive to think that a team that has kept four clean sheets all season and just one in their last sixteen games could play that way and hold on for 20-25 minutes. It was only a matter of time before AFC Wimbledon forced an equaliser.

The O’s needed some form of outlet in order to move up the pitch. In his post match comments Hendon admitted that he considered a change to ‘to try and relieve a bit of pressure‘ yet he did not change anything to allow his side some respite.

Hendon is right to praise his side for their defending in difficult circumstances, however it was the way the Orient manager set-up his side which invited AFC Wimbledon to put the O’s under ever increasing pressure.

There were heated exchanges between a fan and Andy Hessenthaler and Ian Hendon after the game too. This suggests that the Orient boss is feeling the pressure. It is not clear what was said, however as members of staff the O’s boss and his assistant would be better off avoiding those situations and focusing on the football instead.

Attention will now turn towards the FA Cup as the O’s host League One Scunthorpe in the second round next Saturday.