Gillingham 1 Leyton Orient 4
A disappointing start to the season in terms of the result, although I have to say the scoreline flattered the opposition slightly.
The Gills started the better of the two teams showing good spells of possession and passing the ball well, without really causing Orient any problems.
However in the 16th minute the O's scored against the run of play. A dubious free kick was awarded on the edge of the box for a mis-placed challenge by James Brown, but the ball was won clearly, although not in the opinion of the referee. The resulting free kick from Bobby Scott was sublime and gave keeper Darren Hawkes no chance.
Gillingham then enjoyed a good spell of pressure, with Jack Parter sliding a great cross behind the back of their defence just begging for someone to tap home and then Bradley Dack hit the post with a rasping drive a few minutes later.
Unfortunately for the Gills, some sloppy defending resulted in the East Londoners scoring again. Josh Hare got pulled out wide from central defence and was unable to stop the cross coming in, and poor marking in the six yard box gave Moses Odubajo time to pick his spot.
At half time there was cause for optimism though as the lads didn't really deserve to be behind, and with 2-0 being a dangerous scoreline, the lads were raring to go.
However, some naive defending, and I guess some over zealous attacking left us open at the back and we were to concede two more goals in the second half. Both of these goals were the result of some poor defending collectively from corners, and that is the most disappointing aspect of the game overall. Billy Lobjoit and Greg Knock were the O's other scorers.
In summary, we need to improve in both penalty areas, and despite Ashley Miller coming on as sub and earning us a penalty, calmly dispatched by Jack Evans, we never really threatened the Orient goal.
Plenty to work on the training ground though!!
Team: Hawkes, Evans, Parter (Miller 65), Davies (c), Hare, Brown (J), Brown A, Dack (Hessenthaler 50), Humber, Nyafli, (McKenzie 65), Benniman. Subs not used - Bourne and Maughn.
