Craig Edwards named a heavily rotated side to face a young Leyton Orient team on Monday night, with a lot of the Ambers’ young players starting the match.
Apart from the experienced duo at the back in Raul Da Silva at Centre Half and Preston Edwards between the sticks. It was a very inexperienced side in terms of minutes for Cheshunt.
The match was very end to end at the start, both teams looked very tidy in possession. Donell Thomas looked really dangerous on the left wing for Cheshunt. He had the first big chance of the match, he cut in on his right and hit it just past the post.
Matt Walsh and Thomas were linking up well on the left side. The tricky left winger had the beating of Reece Jhuti throughout the opening exchanges with his pace and directness.
Cheshunt took the lead after 20 minutes a ball found Jay Elliott running in behind, he picked his spot and fired low into the far bottom left corner across keeper Noah Phillips.
Orient looked very good in possession, but were unable to create any good chances, it was the Ambers that were creating the opportunities . Thomas continued his great performance, he and Lordon Akolbire began interchanging very well on the left. They found Matt Walsh in the box, he had a brilliant chance but his shot was blocked well. The Ambers again went painfully close from a corner just minutes later.
Orient had a decent chance with five minutes to go to half time , Tom Avgoustidis, who spent a month with the Ambers last season, went on a mazy run down the left, his deflected effort hit the outside of the post. However, it was Cheshunt that scored just before half time to make it 2-0 and they did it in style. Saliu Serigne picked up a half clearance on the edge of the Orient box and he stroked the ball perfectly into the top right corner with a side foot strike, an absolutely unstoppable shot for any goalkeeper.
Walsh then had two huge opportunities to increase Cheshunt’s lead in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. The forward brought the ball down at the back post but his effort went just wide, but he was flagged offside. The striker went even closer minutes later, Jeremy Bisau who looked really impressive against Aveley on Saturday dug out an inch perfect cross to Walsh with the goal gaping in front of him. However, he couldn’t quite get a clean contact on it as he headed wide.
Orient began to dominate possession a little more as fitness started to tell, and substitutions broke up shape & continuity but the Ambers still looked dangerous on the break. The O’s had a decent chance as Hayden Bullas fired over the bar from 20 yards. Just over twenty minutes to go, Charlie Pegrum had the ball in the back of the net for Orient but the linesman flagged it for offside. Two Orient substitutes almost halved the deficit, Dan Carter hit the post and Uko Oji fired the rebound well wide.
They did halve the lead with eleven minutes left on the clock when the ever lively Tom Avgoustidis tapped home a Carter delivery to give them hope and set up an exciting finish.
However, the Ambers held off the Orient pressure to get a victory in the final pre-season match ahead of the season opener against Bognor Regis. Come back tomorrow for a preview of the match!
Photos © Amy Eve Photography full gallery available here .
