Koroma nets again for Orient, but St Albans fight back to claim pre-season draw
Action from St Albans City vs Leyton Orient at Clarence Park - Credit: Archant
Pre-season friendly: St Albans City 1 Leyton Orient 1
Josh Koroma scored his seventh goal of pre-season for Leyton Orient, but it was only enough to see them earn a 1-1 draw at National League South outfit St Albans City this evening.
The visiting National League club had plenty of chances at Clarence Park, but O’s boss Justin Edinburgh saw his players fail to make the most of them.
Nevertheless, it was another good workout for Orient on a night when 14 members of the squad were given more valuable minutes.
O’s head coach picked six of the players in his starting XI which featured from the off at Concord.
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Dean Brill remained in goal and full-backs Myles Judd and Sam Ling played from the start alongside James Brophy, Macauley Bonne and James Alabi, who all also began the match at Thames Road in the starting team.
Incoming were experienced central defenders Josh Coulson and George Elokobi while Craig Clay and Jobi McAnuff partnered each other in the middle of the park.
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Man of the moment Koroma also got another starting opportunity and it took him only quarter of an hour to make his mark.
The Orient academy graduate skipped past Percy Kiangebeni and then rounded Saints goalkeeper James Russell before finishing coolly.
It was another impressive piece of play from Koroma and O’s continued to dominate, but slowly the hosts fought their way back into the contest.
With 30 minutes on the clock, Ian Allinson’s team began to press some more and got their reward when Danny Moyo got between Koroma and Judd and won a penalty.
Sam Merson, the son of former Arsenal legend Paul, stepped up and sent Brill the wrong way to equalise in the 34th minute.
It remained level until the break and Edinburgh made a change early into the second period as he introduced James Dayton for Koroma in the 51st minute.
Orient continued to look for a way through St Albans compact 5-3-2 formation and although they created several chances, they were failing to make the most of them.
Further substitutions were made as Alex Lawless come on for Brophy, a move which saw captain McAnuff switch to the left wing, and Charlie Lee replaced Judd.
Edinburgh’s team worked a number of openings in the final exchanges at Clarence Park, but couldn’t fashion a late winner.
It meant O’s had to settle for a draw and will be back at home on Saturday for the visit of Southend United in their final pre-season game of the summer.
Leyton Orient: Brill; Judd (Lee 79), Coulson, Elokobi, Ling; Koroma (Dayton 51), Clay, McAnuff, Brophy (Lawless 70); Bonne, Alabi.
Unused substitutes: Grainger, Mooney, Happe, Ekpiteta, Sargeant, Ogie.
Attendance: 428.
