Under-21s edged by Orient in JE3 Foundation Trophy

A spirited performance from our Under-21s wasn't quite enough as Leyton Orient retained the JE3 Foundation Trophy with a narrow 2-1 win on Tuesday night.

An early brace from Charlie Kelman put the O's - who hosted the game at Dagenham & Redbridge's Chigwell Construction Stadium - firmly in control but our young side rallied admirably against our senior opponents from League One, Jaden Williams deservedly getting himself on the scoresheet just before half-time to give us a fighting chance going into the second period.

Substitute Oli Irow went agonisingly close to an equaliser in our best chance after the break, while a couple of late opportunities for Orient also went begging. Ultimately, it remained 2-1 as the O's held onto the silverware, which commemorates our legendary former player and ex-Leyton Orient manager Justin Edinburgh, who tragically passed away at the age of 49 in 2019. As in previous years, Justin's son Charlie was on hand to present the trophy after the game.

It was the fourth instalment of this fixture, the last also won by Orient in 2022, and although the occasion was all about the JE3 Foundation in the grand scheme of things, it was 'JW9' who was front and centre on the pitch for us, striker Williams leading the line superbly in the number nine position, exhibiting some strong hold-up play and adding a thoroughly-warranted third goal of pre-season after a couple of near misses earlier in the first half.

Orient started stronger, Kelman routinely firing home from the centre of the box on five minutes following a cross from the right by Jordan Brown, before clinically despatching a second across goal and into the bottom corner from the left angle 14 minutes later.

We refused to allow the game to get away from us and produced some nice passages of play at times with Williams twice going close, first breaking into the box and hitting the far post with a crisply-struck effort on 20 minutes before being denied by a good block from Orient keeper Zach Hemming a quarter-of-an-hour later.

A loose pass at the back almost gifted Kelman his hat-trick but Josh Keeley was equal to his rising shot, before Williams pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time, latching onto Damola Ajayi's through ball to charge between the centre-halves, carry it around Hemming and finish from a tight angle on the right.

The second half didn't yield too much in the way of clear chances until the latter stages, where Ajayi's quick thinking on a free-kick saw him play substitute Irow through on goal on his second appearance following his return from injury but after a great first touch to take himself into the box, the forward dragged his effort fractionally wide of the far post. Darren Pratley was off-target from distance after a scuffed clearance by Keeley, who then denied Ollie O'Neill with a sharp low save at his near post as we avoided conceding again in the last couple of minutes, but it wasn't to be in the end in terms of the result as we slipped to our first defeat of pre-season at this level.

Match data

Goals: Leyton Orient - Kelman 5, 19; Spurs - Williams 45.

Yellow card: Leyton Orient - Bullas 79.

Referee: Morgan Conn.

Venue: Chigwell Construction Stadium, Dagenham.

Weather: Sunny, gentle breeze, 25 degrees.