CITY 3 LEYTON ORIENT 1
City took full advantage of the fact that we were playing but none of the other promotion contenders was with a comfortable 3-0 win over an underpowered Orient side. Their record shows that they do not concede many goals but score even fewer – who does that remind you of? This prompted pre-match fears that this would be an attritional game, like the Cup tie against Palace, but an early goal settled nerves and indeed the match itself.
City lined up with their strongest team unless you prefer Mattock to Berner at left back. We were delighted to see the re-appearance from Wolves of 20-yr old Davies who has been inspirational since he joined us on loan. He did not disappoint and once again was a contender for the MOM, scoring one and making another.
Orient played 4-4-1-1- which is not very different from the lone striker arrangement of 4-5-1. To my surprise they brought a half-decent following though on this showing it is hard to see why anyone would bother. In the first half they failed to get a shot on target and even worse they had no shots off target either!
The opening period gave the clue as to how this game would pan out – City attacked, Orient defended. The break-through came in the ninth minute when a flick on found Fryatt with time and space. He held the ball up just long enough for Oakley – a revelation since Pearson played him wide on the right – to steam up on his outside. The ball was laid perfectly into his path and his low shot across their keeper was always going in the bottom left-hand corner of the goal. It was once again a bitterly cold day at the Walkers but the inner warmth generated by this goal lasted all match….
Crosses by Davies and then by Dyer almost opened up the Orient defence again and there were two splendidly taken free kicks – by King and by Oakley – before City breeched Orient's defensive wall a second time. A ball into their box was headed back across the goal by Howard with the keeper awol and after bouncing was bravely headed into the empty net by Davies as a defender flattened him.
Cue prolonged chants of 'Sign him up, sign him up…' Pearson will not need telling that this is the best midfielder we have had since the O'Neill era – great engine, tenacious tackler, runs with the ball and controls it at the same time, passes forward far more often than back and resists challenges before making space and passing the ball on. We were all disappointed that Wolves lost at home today as anything that causes them to think of having Davies back is definitely a bad thing.
The second half was never going to be of the same standard as the first. We knew the game was over and so did they. Credit Orient for carrying on but it was 65 minutes before they had an attempt at goal – a glancing header that finished up next to the corner flag! One minute later they had their only real chance of the game when a left wing cross was headed too high and too wide from a position that a good header of the ball would have relished.
We were inevitably quieter than before the break with Tuesday's Cup replay in mind no doubt. The best chance came when Howard led a break down the middle and just put his pass too far in front of the supporting Dyer. Howard got some physical treatment from the Orient defence and spent more time on the floor than my vacuum cleaner but once again he had a good match and is endearing himself to the crowd.
Pearson brought on Mattock for Berner, Gradel for Dyer and Dickov for Fryatt. Dickov was soon in action when a defensive slip gave him a clear sight of goal from a long way out. The defender, Mkindawire, immediately pulled him down and became the sole booking of the afternoon. Some around me wanted red but the referee correctly decided on yellow given the distance Dickov would have had to run.
Dickov's big moment was not long delayed however. Davies made a thrilling surge into the area and was upended for a clear penalty. Gradel showed an interest in the spot kick but Dickov was determined to take it. He did this with great conviction putting the ball into the low right hand corner. Cue the trademark aeroplane celebration. This gave the scoreline a deserved look.
The best was saved for last! Minutes from the end we embarked on a sequence of passes lasting well over a minute and a half and consisting of more than 50 passes. Finally the ball was worked out to the far right close to the by-line and centred first time by Dickov to the near post where it was met by a thunderous volley from Howard that whistled past the post. Marvellous stuff and well appreciated by the 18 000+ crowd.
The final whistle was the signal for an exchange of mutual appreciation by crowd and players in recognition of a record-equalling 7 consecutive home league wins. Isn't that more than we used to get in a season?
City: Martin, Gilbert, Hobbs, Tunchev, Berner (Mattock 66), Oakley, Davies, King, Dyer (Gradel 69), Fryatt (Dickov 78), Howard
Orient: Morris, Cave-Brown, Thelwell, Mkandawire, Daniels, Melligan (Barker 76), Purches, Demetriou, Morgan, Boyd, Parkin (Jarvis 77)
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation