The pair have struck up a wonderful partnership this season and reunited it briefly last weekend
Leyton Orient forward Macauley Bonne is excited to resume his deadly partnership with Josh Koroma and provided an insight into why they have been so good together this season.
The duo have contributed towards 30 of O’s goals in league and cup this campaign and will no doubt be among the frontrunners for the club’s Player of the Season award come the conclusion of the term.
Last weekend saw the talented young attackers reunited following a near two-month spell apart after Koroma spent a period on the sidelines.
Orient’s academy graduate suffered a hamstring injury during the 3-0 home win over Maidstone United in the National League on January 26.
Coincidence or not, it resulted in Bonne going on his longest run of games without a goal this season – seven in all competitions.
Boss Justin Edinburgh was able to welcome Koroma back into the matchday squad for Saturday’s FA Trophy semi-final first leg with AFC Telford United though, and he was introduced in the 67th minute.
Straight away the versatile forward looked back to his old tricks and surprisingly very sharp considering it was his first competitive action for seven weeks.
Bonne, buoyed by breaking his goal drought earlier in the game, appeared to relish the opportunity to link up with Koroma again too and the pair could start together away to Telford this weekend.
If that is the case, it is a frightening prospect for the National League North club, who will be trying to overturn a one-goal deficit.
When asked about his telepathy with Koroma, Bonne explained: “We both want to go places. We are both young and spur each other on.
“I think Josh has that electric pace to him where I know if I put the ball in behind, all I have to do is put my head down and run into the box.
“We saw in the early part of the season if he runs wide, he can set me up for a tap-in and that happened a number of times.
“I was gutted for him when he got injured, but now he is back I’m excited to play with him again.”
Orient fans will be thrilled to see the pair playing together once more with Bonne assisting four of Koroma’s nine goals this season.
That is also the same number of assists Koroma has made for Bonne this campaign, but to measure their productivity in simply those stats would be unfair.
What makes this partnership so great is the fact they are both outstanding players and the opposition normally don’t have enough people to mark the duo.
One player on Koroma is not enough and one on Bonne is also a dangerous tactic, so invariably someone gets doubled up on and it allows the other less marked striker more space which often proves decisive.
Telford will have a job on their hands to keep one quiet this weekend, let alone both if boss Edinburgh unleashes the 20-year-old on the Bucks from the off.
Even though Koroma hasn’t started a game since January, he looks set to come into the fold for this one, especially with Jay Simpson still not 100 per cent fit.
Orient hold an advantage from the first leg, but Bonne knows the opposition will be eager to spring a cup surprise.
“We are 1-0 up and leading the tie, but we still have to apply pressure to them and we are not there yet. We have to keep the standards high and play our normal game,” he said.
“Obviously we go into every game trying to win and this is a crucial one for us if we want to get to Wembley.
“We can’t go there thinking we need to get a draw, we want to go there and win and win convincingly.”
If O’s do book their place at Wembley, it seems likely Koroma and Bonne will play a key role in them coming through this potentially tricky encounter.
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