Away Days - Leyton Orient
First Impressions -- Around the ground -- The Game -- The Stand -- Overall -- Pictures
Fixture: Leyton Orient vs PNE
Competition: NPower League One
Ground: Brisbane Road
Date: Saturday 1st October 2011
Kick off: 3pm
Final Result: 2-1 Hume
I had earmarked this game as a 'one to do' as part of a weekend in London so had headed down to London the day before. My hotel was just 5 minutes away from Euston Station so it was a quick trip to Sainsbury's to get some dinner and then straight on the tube to head to Leyton (with a change over on the tube of course).
After getting off the tube at Leyton, it was only a short walk to the ground and I arrived there in five or so minutes. I had plenty of time to kill as I arrived about an hour before kick off.
My first sight of the ground was of the flats directly behind one end of the ground. At first I was left wondering if I had gone in the right direction as the end stand is completely concealed by the flats but I soon caught sight of the turnstiles so I knew was in the right place!
I have to say on first impressions I was quite disappointed. Granted, the club would've benefited greatly from selling the land the flats are built on, but it just seemed a shame that one stand was quite hidden (to say the least) by the flats.
Since I arrived an hour before kick off I had plenty of time to wander around the ground and take some photos etc. After taking a pic of the flats (can't really say I took a photo of the stand!) I made my way around to the West Stand. This was one of the three sides of the ground that have been rebuilt in recent years. Its a tall and very imposing stand - not something you see most of at smaller clubs. I actually thought it looked very smart and certainly seemed different from any other stand, which is a refreshing change.
After taking a couple more photos I opted not to get a drink from the highly-rated supporters club - seemed just too packed for my liking! Instead I headed into the club shop to look for a fridge magnet for my Dad (we seem to have an ever growing number of these on our fridge door!). I have to say, likewise with Chesterfield, that the club shop was very disappointing. They only had a very limited range of merchandise - just the usual replica kits, keyrings etc.
It was soon time for me
to continue my walk around the ground so I bought a keyring
(there were no fridge magnets!) and made my way to the opposite
side. It wasn't possible to go round the North Stand so
I had to walk down a residential street.
I then came to the East Stand, part of which North End fans
were situated in. This was the oldest stand at the ground
and from the outside it didn't seem to have any real 'features'
to it. If I'm honest, I thought it looked boring and pales
in comparison to its newer neighbour on the other side.
It was soon time for me to head into the ground and take my seat. Since this was one of the hottest days of the year (29°c in October!) I was hoping I would be sat in the shade - alas I was not and was in the full glare of the sun. Great! On the positive side though, at least I had a decent view as I was sat far enough in front that the pillars weren't impeding my view.
The West Stand opposite was just as imposing as it was outside. In fact it towered over the rest of the ground thanks to its high roof. It did look a tad odd though with the executive area, offices and tv gantry.
To the left of us was the South Stand which is well hidden from view from the outside. Some of the flats which surround the stand have balconies and plenty of people were able to watch the game for free!
At the other end was the North Stand - this is a similar looking stand to the South Stand but was flanked by just two blocks of flats rather than completely surrounded.
The game was a very, very
poor one from North End's perspective at least. We got off
to a flier with an early goal and the opening 15/20 minutes
was all North End. But for whatever reason, we just seemed
to switch off and from then on it was just largely Leyton
Orient.
After the start we made it was very frustrating to go into
half time 2-1 down.
Sadly, the second half wasn't
much better and was largely a drab affair. North End did
most of the pressing this time and we had a penalty too.
Alexander missed it though - I couldn't believe he missed
against Exeter so I had my head in my hands on this occasion!
Hume hit the post later on from a free kick but other than
that we really just lacked a cutting edge. To be fair on
our strikers, they were devoid of any quality service from
our midfield.
Leyton Orient managed to see the game out, but I felt it was a very frustrating game to watch which was devoid of any real quality. Not one of the worst games I've seen though, but I've seen much, much better.
If i'm brutally honest, I thought the stand was awful. Now I know some people quite like old stands and say they have character, but I don't count wooden seats, wooden floor, lack of a proper stairwell etc as having character!
The wooden seat was just frankly awful. It was uncomfortable and all it had as a back rest was a strip of plastic. The leg room was non-existent too and this posed a real problem when I left to go down to the 'concourse' (I use that term loosely!) at half time - the people at the side of me had to squeeze as far back as they could (and no, I'm not fat either!).
Now, as for the 'concourse'. It was more like a dismal congregating area underneath the stand, and a cramped one at that too. I can only really describe it as very poor, but at least this area was better than Scunthorpe where there's nowhere to congregate at all at half time.
The only positive I can think of is that you can create a bit of noise in the stand, but other than that it was pretty awful.
It was a very disappointing game to watch and very frustrating. After our recent winning run it was disappointing to lose to the bottom side who hadn't won all season.
I had mixed feelings about the ground. Whilst I described the West Stand as looking a little odd from the inside (that's not necessarily a bad thing), I felt it was very imposing and made the ground 'what it is' (i.e. a decent, well built ground that's not similar looking to any other).
Having said that, the stand I was sat in (the old East Stand) was just awful. People may like the gable and think it adds character (obviously I didn't have any view of this) but it doesn't disguise the fact that its an awful stand.
Overall, a decent enough ground and I was glad to tick another one of my 'ground targets' off.
Ratings
Appearance: 8/10
Game: 6/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Fans: 7/10
Away Stand: 5/10
Overall: 7/10
