Preview | Leyton Orient (H)

5 November 2022

Crewe Alexandra host Leyton Orient in the first round of the FA Cup on Saturday (3pm).

The Railwaymen will aim to build on the positive performance from Tuesday night, which yielded a penalties victory over a strong Leeds Under-21s side in the Papa John’s Trophy.

The Opposition

Orient have had a terrific start to their campaign, and sit top of League Two - three points ahead of Stevenage, who have played a game more.

In their most recent outing, they were 1-0 winners at home against Salford City thanks to a Paul Smyth winner.

The Gaffer

Richie Wellens took charge at Brisbane Road in March 2022 with Orient sitting in 20^th place, and he led them to a comfortable mid-table finish.

Wellens has a vast amount of experience managing in Football League, which includes spells at Oldham Athletic, Swindon Town, Salford City and Doncaster Rovers.

The highlight of his managerial career came during the 2019-20 season where he guided Swindon to promotion from League Two.

Team News

Christopher Long and Charlie Colkett could feature, following their recoveries from long term injuries. Zac Williams and Courtney Baker-Richardson remain doubtful, whilst Callum Ainley and Rod McDonald continue to be sidelined.

Orient could shuffle the pack on Saturday, as Wellens stated during the week that the league remains the priority for The O’s. Darren Pratley is a doubt, and Anthony Georgiou and Daniel Nkrumah are sidelined.

Head-to-Head

Leyton Orient hold the slight upper hand in past meetings, winning 12 of the 32 meetings between both sides, compared to Crewe’s 11.

The Railwaymen, however, are unbeaten in their last five meetings against The O’s, with their last encounter coming in January 2020, a 2-0 win for the Alex at the Mornflake stadium.

Officials

Sam Purkiss will take charge of the match on Saturday afternoon, having last officiated an Alex fixture in March 2022, a 1-0 defeat at home to Bolton Wanderers.

He will be assisted by Billy Smallwood and Christopher Ward, with Scott Jackson appointed as fourth official.

Elsewhere in the FA Cup

South Shields v Forest Green Rovers; Bolton Wanderers v Barnsley; Boreham Wood v Eastleigh; Curzon Ashton v Cambridge United; Maidenhead United v Dagenham & Redbridge; Crawley Town v Accrington Stanley; Solihull Moors v Hartlepool United; AFC Fylde v Gillingham; Peterborough United v Salford City; Sutton United v Farnborough; Grimsby Town v Plymouth Argyle; MK Dons v Taunton Town; Ebbsfleet United v FC Halifax Town; Carlisle United v Tranmere Rovers; Bracknell Town v Ipswich Town; Chippenham Town v Lincoln City; Sheffield Wednesday v Morecambe; Hereford v Portsmouth; Shrewsbury Town v York City; Buxton v Merthyr Town; Charlton Athletic v Coalville Town; Weymouth v AFC Wimbledon; Newport County AFC v Colchester United; Stockport County v Swindon Town; Doncaster Rovers v Kings Lynn Town; Gateshead v Stevenage; Fleetwood Town v Oxford City; Burton Albion v Needham Market; Bradford City v Harrogate Town; Port Vale v Exeter City; Torquay United v Derby County; Bristol Rovers v Rochdale AFC; Wycombe Wanderers v Walsall; Wrexham v Oldham Athletic; Barnet v Chelmsford City; Woking v Oxford United; Chesterfield v Northampton Town; Cheltenham Town v Alvechurch; Barrow AFC v Mansfield Town.

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Match Previews

Match Reports

Match Report | Crewe 1 Orient 0

5 November 2022

Crewe through to the second round of FA Cup
Sambou’s first of season seals it in injury-time
Bell’s first match in charge ends in victory

Bassala Sambou’s injury-time strike sent Crewe Alexandra into the second round of the FA Cup with victory over Leyton Orient.

The forward bagged his first of the season after super work from Kelvin Mellor, with only seconds left on the clock.

Orient had been reduced to 10 men in the final few minutes when Craig Clay saw red for a lunge on Sambou.

It meant Lee Bell’s first game in interim charge ended in a first win in 10 outings for The Railwaymen.

Now they will be in the hat for the draw on Monday evening.

Bell’s first line-up as boss was led in attack by Dan Agyei, as Courtney Baker-Richardson was only deemed fit enough to be amongst the subs.

Orient’s Charlie Kelman had the ball in the net on five minutes, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on Arthur Okonkwo.

The big keeper was busy early on, making good stops from Kelman and Stephen Duke-McKenna before the quarter-hour mark.

Orient keeper Lawrence Vigouroux made a reflex stop from an Agyei header following a corner, while George Moncur blazed over at the other end after good work by Ruel Sotiriou.

On 33 minutes Moncur tricked his way past Lachlan Brook and crashed a shot off the underside of the bar from an acute angle, as the hosts continued to live dangerously.

As half-time approached, Duke-McKenna saw a shot well blocked by Conor Thomas, while Brook fired over for Crewe.

The game reached the hour-mark with little incident, as the game became more even.

Billy Sass-Davies glanced a headed from a free-kick wide, and sub Theo Archibald brought a routine save from Okonkwo.

On 82 minutes sub Paul Smyth was played in behind the Crewe defence and looked certain to score until a recovering Mellor superbly blocked the ball on the line.

Orient were reduced to 10 men in the final stages when Clay got his marching orders for a reckless lunge on Sambou.

And The Railwaymen nicked it in the dying seconds, when Mellor sped down the right and crossed for Sambou to rifle home from close range.

Bell and Alex Morris embraced in the technical area as the final whistle sounded, at the end of an emotional few days.

Crewe (4-2-3-1): Okonkwo; Adebisi, Sass-Davies, Offord, Mellor; Thomas, Uwakwe; Brook, Tabiner (Colkett 71), Agyei; Sambou.

Subs not used: Richards, King, Billington, Baker-Richardson, Griffiths, O Finney, Leshabela, C Finney.

Booked: Thomas.

Orient (4-2-3-1): Vigouroux; James, Ogie, Beckles, Hunt; Clay, Moncur (El-Mizouni 68); Sotiriou (Archibald 57), Duke-McKenna (Smyth 57), Brown; Kelman (Drinan 68).

Subs not used: Sargeant, Happe, Wareham, Pratley, Sweeney.

Booked: Ogie.

Sent off: Clay.

Referee: S Purkiss.

Attendance: 2,104 (309).