Kildare County 0 - 2 Leyton Orient

The first-part of Kildare County’s Festival Of Football started in Station Road, Newbridge tonight [Friday] where they were on the receiving end of a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Geraint Williams’ Leyton Orient. This was no disgrace to Joey Somerville’s side though, as Orient are quite an accomplished side, who had a mid-table finish in League One last season.

Playing in front of a very lively crowd, it was as close to full capacity as it has been all season, Kildare County made a positive start to the game by setting out to attack from the word go. This helped to yield their first win of the season against Mervue United last Friday evening.

Dean Lawrence, usually a central player in either midfield or defence, played the first half at left-back and he got forward at every opportunity to pose some problems for the Leyton Orient rearguard. Having said that though, Orient were looking quite threatening themselves, especially Romanian front man Adrian Patulea.

However, despite both sides having plenty of possession around the middle-third, it wasn’t until the 22nd minute that the first clear-cut chance of the game arrived and it came the way of the home side when the ball fell to rangy striker David Lee 12 yards from goal, but he couldn’t connect properly and goalkeeper Jamie Jones cleared it away to safety.

County really could have done with this goal, as they may well have been on their way to a surprise victory had they scored. They missed instead, and Orient almost found a way through just two minutes later when Patulea ran onto a long-ball from defence, but Darren Kelly in the Kildare goal was alert to the danger. Further Orient efforts followed from Jason Demetriou and Charlie Daniels, but they were really only half-chances, although Scott McGleish should have done better on 33 minutes only to be let down by a heavy first-touch.

Despite an increase in pressure from Orient, County continued to look for openings and were almost rewarded with seven first-half minutes remaining when Phillip Hughes unleashed a left-footed shot from out on the right, only to see his shot brilliantly tipped over by Jones.

It was looking more and more likely that the sides would go in level at the break, but Leyton Orient had other ideas and a perfectly-flighted Harry Baker corner was headed home via a flying header by Ben Chorley to give his side a 1-0 half-time advantage.

The second-half saw both sides making a number of switches, with only Darren Kelly, David Byrne and David Lee returning for Kildare. It took the new additions for The Thoroughbreds a while to get to grips with the game, and Orient certainly enjoyed a better start, though once again it was County who had the first clear-cut opportunity of the half.

This time the chance fell to defender Davy Byrne after 57 minutes, whose glancing header was expertly cleared off the line by right-back Andrew Cave-Brown. This would prove to be their best chance of getting on the scoreboard in the second half, with Orient increasing their lead with 25 minutes left when impressive substitute Dominic Casciato, currently on trial with the club, rebounded to the net after Kelly had brilliantly tipped Loick Pires’ effort onto the crossbar.

This would leave County with too much to do as the game entered into the final quarter, with their only effort of note being a 71st minute Orrin Farrell effort that went just wide of the left-hand post. Nevertheless, Kildare remained competitive for the remainder of the contest against a professional outfit, which must bode well with the visit of Limerick this Sunday on the horizon.

The only other opportunity that Orient had came with nine minutes remaining when Pires header over the bar from close-range with Kelly left stranded. Aside from this match, and their league encounters with Limerick 37 and Monaghan United, County will play friendlies against Dundee United, Newry City and a Sunderland XI in the next 12 days or so, when they will no doubt be hoping to recreate the great atmosphere that was present at tonight’s game.

Kildare County: Darren Kelly; Craig Purcell, Liam Tiernan, David Byrne, Dean Lawrence; Dave O’Riordan, Darren O’Brien, Dave Jackson, Christy Doran; Phillip Hughes, David Lee.
SUBS: Stuart Cullen, Eoghan Powderly, Colin Cassidy, Barry Bourke, Baba Isaaka, Matt Byrne, Trevor Bowers, Orrin Farrell, Gavin Kinsella, Eoin Kavanagh, Dean Barrett.

Leyton Orient: Jamie Jones; Andrew Cave-Brown, Ben Chorley, Tamika Mkandawire, Matt Richards; Harry Baker, Matty Hall, Jason Demetriou, Charlie Daniels; Scott McGleish, Adrian Patulea.
SUBS: Glenn Morris, Stephen Purches, Jimmy Smyth, Daryl Sydes, J.J. Melligan, Loick Pires, Luke Ashworth, Dominic Casciato.

Referee: Rob Rogers.

Extratime.ie player-of-the-match: Adrian Patulea [Leyton Orient]– Not easy to pick a stand-out performer with so many players used by both sides, but Patulea did impress up front and will be crucial to Orient’s chances this year