FA Cup 3rd Round
LEYTON ORIENT 1 DERBY COUNTY 1 (after extra time; Leyton Orient won 6-5 on penalties)
JOHN CHUBB at the Gaughan Group Stadium
Leyton Orient, who currently top the Sky Bet League One form table set up a plum FA Cup fourth round tie against Premier League giants Manchester City, after they eventually got past Championship side Derby County in an epic third round contest last night.
The tie was postponed on Saturday due to the freezing weather conditions, but following milder temperatures the Brisbane Road pitch looked in excellent condition, and the crowd were in good voice as the game kicked off.
Orient almost got off to a perfect start, when Sonny Perkins and Charlie Kelman broke free to mount an attack with the game just seconds old, setting up Diallang Jaiyesimi who launched a spectacular overhead kick, but it went just over the crossbar.
Derby s first chance came a few minutes later, when Marcus Harness found himself in the home side’s penalty area, but a well-timed intervention from Ethan Galbraith prevented the on-loan Ipswich Town winger from scoring.
But it was the hosts who went in front with 20 minutes on the clock, as the East Midlanders failed to clear a corner properly and the ball fell to Kelman.
The on-loan Queens Park Rangers forward made no mistake, his close range left-footed strike flying past Rams goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom to put the O’s in the driving seat and spark loud celebrations all around the ground, with his 11th goal of the season in all competitions for the East Londoners.
But the home side’s joy didn’t last very long, as just four minutes later at the other end Harness crossed for Dajaune Brown to strike the ball past Orient keeper Josh Keeley, and level the scores.
As the match approached half-time, Perkins broke free down the right flank for the hosts, crossing for Sean Clare who found himself in plenty of space in the Derby box, but his first time volley sailed way over the bar.
A Rams attack in injury tine saw a close range header on target from visiting skipper Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, just before Jamie Donley fired over at the other end so an enthralling first half ended with the scores level.
Derby manager Paul Warne reshuffled his pack for the second half, Callum Elder and Ebou Adams replacing Nathaniel Phillips and Liam Thompson.
But it was Richie Wellens’ men who had the first chance to score after the restart, when Omar Beckles saw his close range effort float just over the crossbar to Zetterstrom’s right.
It was proving a real end-to-end contest, and a thunderous effort from the visitors’ Corey Blackett-Taylor only just glanced over Keeley’s goal as both sides showed great eagerness to break the deadlock.
In the 66th minute Kelman set up Jaiyesimi, who was denied by a decent Derby defensive block as the goalscoring opportunities kept coming.
The Rams came agonisingly close to going 2-1 in front with 76 minutes on the clock, as substitute Tom Barkhuizen – who had only been on the field for around six minutes – found himself in acres of space following clever work down the right, but his thunderous strike bounced off the crossbar and back into play.
Referee Benjamin Speedie added six minutes in respect of stoppages, but it remained all square and the tie therefore went into extra time.
Just after the start of the second period, Orient’s Jack Currie fired wide after a superb through ball from Donley found its way through, but the linesman’s flag had been raised anyhow.
Moments later, Keeley had to be alert as Derby’s Kenzo Goudmijn had a decent chance to put his side in front, but the on-loan Tottenham stopper made a decent save.
In the 113th minute, O’s then found themselves reduced to 10 men as referee Speedie dismissed Clare for a second bookable offence.
Just after this, Kelman spotted Zetterstrom off his line and ambitiously attempted to lob the Swede, but it didn’t have quite enough power behind it and was easily caught by the backtracking number one, before a thunderous Adams strike almost stole it for the visitors, but went side to Keeley’s right.
The deadlock could not be broken, so the tie was then decided on penalties.
James Collins, Goudmijn, Harness, Kayden Jackson and Barkhuizen all netted for Derby, with Donley, Tom James, Jordan Brown, Brandon Cooper and Kelman all scoring from the spot for Orient.
But the visitors’ sixth penalty – taken by Callum Elder – was saved by Keeley and up stepped Zach Obiero, who scored the decisive spot kick for the East Londoners and sparked scenes of joy among the majority of the crowd.
Although this was quite an evenly matched tie and could have gone either way, and despite boss Wellens having to contend with a crippling injury list in recent times, Orient’s excellent league form since early December has clearly boosted confidence within the squad, as they played with a great deal of zest against their Championship opponents.
And now the E10 faithful have a home tie against the might of Pep Guardiola’s Premier League title holders to look forward to, which will surely rank as one of the biggest FA Cup ties in the club’s history.
LEYTON ORIENT (Head Coach: Richie Wellens) – Josh Keeley, Jack Simpson (Brandon Cooper 101), Jack Currie, Jamie Donley, Darren Pratley © (Jordan Brown 62), Omar Beckles, Sonny Perkins (Zech Obiero 101), Ethan Galbraith (Jayden Sweeney 82), Charlie Kelman, Diallang Jaiyesimi (Tom James 71), Sean Clare.
DERBY COUNTY (Manager: Paul Warne) – Jacob Widell Zetterstrom, Kane Wilson, Craig Forsyth, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (c), (James Collins 75), Nathaniel Phillips (Callum Elder 46), Liam Thompson (Ebou Adams 46), Kenzo Goudmijn, Marcus Harness, Corey Blackett-Taylor (Kayden Jackson 67), Curtis Nelson, Dajaune Brown (Tom Barkhuizen 71).
Referee: Benjamin Speedie
Attendance: 8279 (including 1022 Derby supporters)