Leyton Orient (0) 2 Hartlepool United (1) 4

Nelson; Terry (sub Demetriou 62), Thelwell(capt), Mkandawire, Palmer; JJ Melligan, Chambers, Thornton, Corden (sub Daniels 67); Gray (sub Echanomi 73), Boyd.

A weekend spent drowning the sorrows makes for an even later report than usual without necessarily offering more time for sober reflection. One thing is certain. That a dose of reality, if reality can be defined, less still captured, is surely to be welcomed. So many of us had that “whatever else may be the case, we really don’t want to lose” feeling. Yet, in reality, Football League teams, since Preston North End in 1888, have by and large not survived a season without suffering the odd defeat. Put another way, English Football may be far more stratified than it was twenty years ago, with talk of a top four or a big four and such nonsense as “Wet Sham belong in the Premiershi-“, yet it is still possible for lesser teams to beat greater and the wonderful unpredictably of the beautiful game still continues to enthral us. So let us celebrate, if nothing else, the fact that our feet are back on the ground, that the magic has gone out of the tale (if magic it ever was) and we still have four of those six more difficult games to come in the immediate future; contests for which our feet will need to be very firmly on the ground. Indeed, our team, our squad, will need to prove its invincibility all over again and that, perhaps, is no bad thing either. The reality of the hackneyed mantra “One game at a time” is all too necessary at this juncture.

We should be clear, too, that, if Yeovil were, by a slim margin, the best side we had encountered this season, then Hartlepool were, by a street, quite the best team we have played this term and, we could be forgiven for hoping, perhaps the very best of the entire pack. Slick in their possession and attacking football, the fact that our much-vaunted central defence and goalkeeper were, maybe for the first time, looking stretched, uneasy, spoke volumes for the quality of this opposition. That said, our own performance was not always that bad, and the side’s mental qualities, to borrow from M. Wenger, were evident in their ability to come back twice from two-goal deficits when all else seemed lost. So there need be no excuses for the result. Well-beaten by a much better side. And there should be no excuses for the performance, insofaras it did not match up to previously-engendered high expectations. But there was one exogenous factor which did, in the Cobra’s humble view, have a significant effect on the manner of the game and, without wishing to making it an excuse for anything, yet it is worth debating, if only because its significance may have been quite disproportionate.

Referees do not, as a general rule, issue yellow cards in the first ten to fifteen minutes of a game. Red ones occasionally, remember Millwall, but not yellow. This fan had often wondered why and others can regularly be heard baying for the production of a card in those opening minutes following a foul of any seriousness. After all, if a foul is worthy of an official caution, what is the difference between the first fifteen minutes and the rest of the game? We learnt the answer to that on Saturday at 3.01 when Sean Thornton was cautioned for a foul in the tackle. Foul it was. With what intent, other than that of regaining the ball, it was difficult to discern. Malicious it was not. As these eyes saw it, Sean caught his opponent at the margin. McCunnie fell, and quite rightly so, because he was genuinely hurt. But the caution, nonetheless, seemed excessive and inconsistent with the usual behaviour and attitude of most referees. The result? Sean played with uncharacteristic reserve for the remaining eighty-nine minutes lest a second caution should dictate an early bath. In effect, the most influential player on the home side, was effectively playing with one-hand tied behind his back. He could not and did not go into full-blooded tackles for fear of a repetition. And the malaise seemed to spread to others, naturally, as Adam Chambers, in particular, seemed unwilling to risk a caution. Ironically, had we approached this game with the same cautious, probing build-up that had characterised our previous outings, instead of rightly trying to stamp our authority on the match from the outset, the incident may never have occurred. But that’s life. And that’s football.

Martin Ling’s pre-match chat to the Gallery didn’t tell us much that wasn’t already in the programme but an emphasis on the recovering wounded, surely good news, is worth noting. Such were the positives in the rest of the squad that he could afford to give Jabo and Purches another week to ensure a full recovery. An extra Reserve team game had been arranged for Tuesday against Brentford for their benefit. He was also very clear about the day’s opposition. Respect for Danny Wilson whose side would play good football with a certain tempo and purpose and a passing game to be admired. Given which, it is tempting to suppose that the usual scientific game plan was indeed changed so that our boys went for supremacy from the outset.

Hartelpool began with a huddle, leaving us to wonder what on earth there was to impart which had not already been imparted in the dressing-room. We kicked off and headed South, nothing unusual these days. Back to Thornton and Thelwell. Long to Gray and cleared. Chambers to Terry and long for Boyd and cleared. Tam clears long. United again, Thornton to the tackle and referee Haywood with his yellow card to set his mark on the game. Decisively. Thornton back to clear the free-kick. Melligan free down the right. Crosses and wins a corner. Short between Melligan and Thornton. JJ robbed and cleared. Thelwell up for it but penalised. Free-kick Hartlepool. Palmer clears. Thornton is fouled and receives no recompense. Terry to Gray who is fouled and gets nothing for his pains either. Corden to Boyd who executes the Cristiano Ronaldo legover and gets in a deadly cross from the left. Corden takes the corner, on the left. It is headed clear, Chambers misses the ball and Palmer is left to pass back to Nelson. Orient win a free-kick on the halfway for an incident in which Adam Chambers looked to have been more sinning than sinned against. Palmer to Gray who is beaten in the air and the visitors come away down the right, Tam putting into touch for a throw. Now Aiden Palmer is rounded and the ball is crossed. A weak shot from around the spot which Stuart Nelson holds comfortably. Orient again. Cleared. United down the right again and win another corner. Tam and JJ clear the danger. O’s go long and the ball is nodded back to ‘keeper Budtz in the visitors’ goal. Hartlepool now with a fabulous through-ball which is flicked on, Boyd style, but superb anticipation from Paul Terry who clears decks. Hartlepool again, now down the left. Liddle shoots, Tam blocks, Melligan clears to Thornton who is floored. Nothing from referee Haywood and once more we think we see a referee who makes commendable use of the advantage rule without actually signalling the fact. So neither we nor the players ever know whether he has seen an infringement or not. Now Palmer on to Boyd who is fouled and earns a free-kick which comes to nought. Cleared and a fine through-ball for Ian Moore who beats Tam and advances on Nelson. Stuart, in his usual style, anticipates brilliantly and advances to the edge of the box, blocking the shot, though less than convincingly, and allowing Moore to open the scoring with a second bite of the cherry. 0 – 1.

More dangerous breaks down the right for Hartlepool and down the right again. Thornton is floored and this time Orient have the free-kick. To the far post where both Tam and Chambers both fail narrowly to connect with diving headers. Ball cleared for Corden to intercept. Hartlepool again. Humphreys crosses from the left and Moore is on the spot again with a gifted shot which goes just a yard or two wide of the post. Let-off! United again and Nelson now in a tangle with an opponent for the ball. We clear. They return down the left. A cross which Tam heads clear for a throw. A series of throws. Hartlepool again down the left and a cross to the far post which Nelson intercepts. Orient now with the throw which is headed into the box but cleared and United come again on the break, with a shot from twenty-five yards which passes wide. Nelson clears long. Boyd is fouled. We get nothing. United come away and find Moore whom Terry fouls. He is awarded a yellow card. Now Humphreys is penalised for a foul on JJ. Thornton takes the free-kick five yards outside the angle of the box. It is low and headed for a corner which Thornton takes. Tam is up for it but his header goes over the bar. Hartlepool again down the right. Chambers and Corden with the tackles. Terry wins a throw for O’s five yards inside the halfway line. Into the box for Thornton who is tripped but receives nothing. The theory is propounded that referee Haywood may be handling Sean on past reputation. JJ is brought down and we win a free-kick on the halfway-line. It is cleared. More pressure from the visitors. Thelwell is floored and Monkhouse is shown the yellow card to a round of ribald and ironic applause. Half an hour in and Deano is seen to be arguing with Danny Wilson. Insults are exchanged and they stand face-to-face, the fourth official desperately trying to prevent the situation escalating. Sadly, the conversation was not recorded and all that abides in the memory is the instant support from the crowd’s chants of “Deano, Deano”.

Some good two-way play follows. Free-kick Orient for offside. A cross from Corden cleared. Hartlepool cross from the right and Nelson holds low. More two-way traffic. United on the break are stopped by Tam, getting back in time with a strong tackle. Hartlepool now with a very fine move. Humphreys to Boland to James Brown, carpet-ball stuff, and executed swiftly and smoothly. Brown into the box with a gilt-edged opportunity which he wastes by firing well-wide. Let-off again! Hartlepool again down the right and Tam hoofs into the East Stand. A cross which Nelson holds. His kick is passed back to Budtz and Tam intercepts the ‘keeper’s kick, running with the ball and winning a free-kick. Palmer with the kick. Cleared. Melligan returns. Cleared. Throw to us. Throw to them. James Brown breaks down the left and crosses long. Corden and Thornton clear. To Boyd who is tackled and Godwin Antwi is off on a run. Dispossessed and up to Terry, Melligan and Corden who is fouled. Free-kick Orient which must be re-taken since the ball was not stationary. Jeers from those ignorant or careless of the rules. It comes to nothing and now Nelson is feeding Terry. To Thornton, Thelwell and Boyd who controls, beats his man, runs on and crosses wickedly to the far post where Wayne Gray gets up for the header and has only to nod into the gaping net. Amazingly, he appears to head wide, though we learn from the ensuing corner that Budtz must have got a finger to the cross. Perhaps our best chance of the half. Deserved or not, we could have gone in level. Now we remain behind and feelings at the interval are ambivalent. The heart says we are second best and will not recover. The head says we have done it before and we will do it again.

And, if we had hoped that our lads would step up a gear in the second period, then we soon discovered that the same reticence in the tackle was still to the fore and that the visitors were well up to any change of tempo that we tried to impose. Chambers and Terry clear from the kick-off but United return and win a corner on the left where we all saw a goal-kick. A shot rebounds, into the box and out. A cross and a free-kick. ‘Pool come again and Nelson miskicks giving a throw to the visitors in the midst of our territory. Now Paul Terry is bested down the left but the opponent is tackled and the ball cleared. United again and Palmer now is beaten. A cross and Paul Terry is clearing off the goal-line. Thornton, Palmer, Thornton and back to Nelson who gives long. Palmer gives up a throw ten yards beyond the halfway line. From that, another throw ten yards inside the halfway line. Thornton recovers and finds Chambers who is tackled by James Brown. An instant shot from distance. Stuart Nelson goes down and appears to have the shot covered but it seems to bobble and in a moment once thought for ever to belong to Paul Robinson, Stuart loses sight and control of the ball which bounces over him and into the net for a second. Bad luck? Poor judgment? We may never know. But 0 – 2 behind and we begin to feel that this is already a lost cause.

Hartlepool continue to press down the left. James Brown beats Paul Terry and crosses low but there is no-one to receive and Nelson holds. We win two free-kicks in succession. Tam takes the second. Boydy is up for it but fails to connect. Ten minutes in and we string together a really decent move. Tam wins a tackle and finds Adam Chambers. To Palmer, Corden and back to Palmer. On to Boyd, Chambers again, Terry, Chambo again and Melligan who exchanges passes with Corden. JJ goes on a run, cuts in, down the centre and, to the surprise of many, lets fly from a distance. The ball hits the crossbar, rebounds down to the ground and into the net. Shades of Gresty Road! Crowd delirious. 1 - 2. Something to shout about at last. We had supposed we were down and out but were now back in the game. Briefly, memories of the Cobblers debacle filter back into the consciousness. The Cobra had suggested, and was not alone in this, that substitutions were perhaps in order as early as half-time. Martin Ling, too, was clearly of the mind that something extra or unusual was required to better such tough opponents, since he was already warming up a couple of would-be extras. Ironically, for the second game in succession, the Orient scored just as these substitutes were about to be introduced. They were, of course, put on ice, no doubt, in part, because the now-feted JJ would have been one of those to leave the arena.

From the kick-off, Palmer concedes a throw five yards from the flag. McCunnie crosses hard. Thelwell clears long and JJ chases, team and crowd now fired-up. But not for long. Back to Budtz who kicks long. Thelwell with the tackle but a free-kick is awarded three yards outside the box. To the far post where Terry heads clear. United again. Terry again. Two-way traffic and another fine Orient passing movement which ends with Aiden Palmer crossing long and over the bar! Martin Ling calls time-out to bring Paul Terry off and introduce Jason Demetriou into the midfield, presumably to spice things up a bit, Adam Chambers moving to right-back. Another good move between Tam, Boyd, Thornton and Corden, a through-ball which is lost and referee Haywood returns play to the centre circle for a free-kick to the O’s, presumably signalling a much-delayed infringement. Thornton to the far post. Budtz is up, falls, gathers and clears. To the other end, where a weak shot is surprisingly tipped round the post by Nelson for a corner on the left. Stuart fists clear and JJ breaks free down the line. Hartlepool throw. Tam clears to Demetriou who is dispossessed by James Brown. Tam tackles again. Brown goes down and the visitors have a free-kick twenty yards out. The shot is cleared, a second shot blocked. Thelwell clears. They return. Offside. Free-kick Orient. Twenty minutes gone and more. Martin Ling brings Charlie Daniels on for a rare appearance, removing Wayne Corden.

Orient on the attack and a great cross from Boyd which both Gray and Daniels oh so nearly connect with. Two-way play. Thornton is floored. Advantage rule is signalled. We’d rather have the free-kick. Palmer is fouled. Nothing is given. A couple of minutes on and Tam is brought down, the referee showing the yellow card to Andy Monkhouse. Just under twenty minutes left. No progress. The manager brings on Efe Echanomi early, removing Wayne Gray. Danny Wilson brings Joel Porter on for James Brown. Two-way play again, cat and mouse. A chance shot by JJ from thirty yards which Budtz holds easily. Tam clears well from the kick. A series of indeterminate throw-ins. JJ on the break again. He is fouled and we have a free-kick, five yards outside the angle of the box. Sean with the kick and Budtz rises to hold but only just! He clears for a throw to Orient which is passed back to Nelson. Boyd is up for the kick and finds JJ who gets in a cross. Budtz palms the ball out but into the path of the oncoming Daniels who lets go a rasping drive which Budtz miraculously scrambles away. From the clearance, Palmer returns to Thornton and Daniels, now with a cross which Budtz holds safely. Ten minutes left. Boland off, Ben Clarke on. We remark that Clarke’s shirt lacks the final “E”, suggesting an error in the programme.

Daniels clears long for Efe who himself punts long. Hartlepool return. Monkhouse breaks away, finds the novice Porter, takes the return, cuts in and shoots from twenty yards, a goal we’d have died for. Brilliant. 3 – 1. Down and out again. But not, in fact. For, less than five minutes on, Boydy feeds Demetriou. He to JJ whose cross rebounds out and back to Melligan. Another cross meets Daniels, off the far post, and his rising drive from ten yards or more, finds the roof of the net and reduces the deficit again. 2 – 3. Three minutes left and we really believed we might yet snatch a draw, however undeserved that might have been. Four minutes time added. Another substitution from Wilson brings Barker off and Mackay on to run the clock down. Nelson takes the free-kick for offside. Long and lost and cleared. Thelwell with the tackle to regain. Daniels and Chambers interchange twice. Daniels’ cross is cleared. Chambers in the breach again. He is fouled, wins nothing for his pains. Hartlepool return with another stunning, slick three-man passing movement, lightning speed, knife through butter, and Moore slots his second and puts the match where it belongs and beyond any doubt. Nor was that the end of things. Orient counter-attack and a series of crosses, all repelled, finish with a Boyd header narrowly over the bar. United recharge and another superb cross sees Stuart Nelson palming a shot off the line.

5-2? Would not have been unfair. 4- 4? Could have been. But would have been a gross misrepresentation. Indeed, hard to find superlatives adequate to match this opposition. Beaten at Leeds, they also lost at Luton on the season’s opener, presumably while they were still finding their feet. Clearly saved their best for us, which we should take as a compliment. But what might have been but for that first-minute yellow card? Pure conjecture! So, where do we go from here? We’ve been known to sneak freak results at Bristol Rovers before but it is perhaps the attitude more than the result which matters. A strange thing to say. Little doubt that Martin Ling will fire the lads up for this next one. Changes? We need to address our strike-force and its strike rate. Hard to argue with Boyd’s five from nine but Wayne Gray’s singleton is looking lonely. Strangely, Efe has not contributed as much in his cameo substitute appearances as one might expect. We all suppose he could not cope with ninety minutes. Perhaps that theory should be tested. Alternatively, or perhaps additionally, if Jabo is to return as sharp as he was recently reported to have been, he could be worth a run. Indeed, Bristol was a happy hunting-ground for him not that long ago. Elsewhere, Corden has had an excellent season but without finding the net, while Melligan produces the goods occasionally just when you least expect. The Cobra would favour a trial for Charlie Daniels, despite the mixed reviews his performance received. He does at least know the way to the net and may add that extra spark which we so clearly need if we are ever to dominate a game. For now, though, let us focus on restoring the status quo and watch with interest from afar as Hartlepool take on Carlisle and Forest in upcoming games.

COBRA