Tranmere v Leyton Orient fan's view
9:46am Monday 20th August 2012 in Orient News By Rowland Lyons
Scott Cuthbert's injury was a setback for Leyton Orient: Action Images
Last Saturday was very much a case of ‘After the Lord Mayor’s Show’.
Trailing three goals without reply and looking like we might ship even more, at least a late consolation brought some respectability to a scoreline that was fast becoming a rout.
Cruelly, Tranmere exposed our lack of pace down the right flank and once the first goal had gone in, it was promising to be a long, hot afternoon.
Perhaps, the 120 minutes and penalties in midweek might have taken their toll – but surely, not so early in the game.
You could have probably excused a few tired legs at the end of the afternoon; however, the amount of early possession and midfield domination Rovers were enjoying was quite alarming.
What was more frustrating was the fact that Tranmere were supposedly lacking in personnel at the back – without the likes of veteran, Ian Goodison. But, it wasn’t until the stroke of half-time that they were truly tested when a piece of David Mooney magic almost drew us level.
Unlike at Charlton, in midweek, when Matty Baudry had pulled us back into the game, lightning didn’t strike in the same place twice and we were left rueing that near miss. That was compounded when Scotty Cuthbert left the play soon after the restart with a worrying injury.
Within minutes it was ‘game over’ when Akpro’s stunner flew over Jamie Jones.
The third goal just added insult to injury, but at least the gaffer has other options on the bench and the pairing of Ryan Brunt and Michael Symes should be given more game time as they seem to be able to ruffle the feathers of most defences, if last Tuesday and Saturday are anything to go by.
You can’t expect to perform for just 15 minutes and it was too little, too late. Consequently, the league table – even after one game – will look painful reading.
Things must improve – fast – with the home games against Stevenage and Hartlepool next up providing us with the opportunity to show last Saturday was only a blip.
Keep the faith,
ROWLAND LYONS.
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