The O’s are not officially champions, but it would take an almighty sequence of events for them not to achieve promotion this coming Saturday
Solihull Moors manager Tim Flowers paid tribute to Leyton Orient and head coach Justin Edinburgh after the two National League title rivals played out a goalless draw on Monday, which puts the O’s on the verge of promotion.
The east London outfit are three points clear of second-placed Salford City and third in the table Moors with only one game to go.
Orient also boast a better goal difference compared to the promotion-chasing sides with Edinburgh’s men on +38, the Ammies on +33 and Solihull on +30.
A home win for Flowers’ team on Monday would have made things interesting going into the final day this coming weekend, but O’s defended excellently to come away with a point following a hard-fought 0-0 draw.
Even though Orient’s staff and players are not celebrating yet, the travelling fans at Damson Park did and the Moors boss thinks the title race is over now.
Flowers said: “Congratulations to Leyton Orient. It is a very difficult job to win this division because it is a tough league.
“They have proved themselves worthy winners, so I would like to congratulate Justin and all his staff and the players and everyone at Leyton Orient. Good luck to you next season.”
While Solihull and O’s were pushing each other to the limit in West Midlands, further up the country a shock occurred at Salford.
City hosted promotion hopefuls AFC Fylde and surprisingly lost 1-0 to boost Orient’s efforts to secure the league championship.
It could have been very different had Dean Brill not pulled off some key saves while home captain Kyle Storer headed wide from close range when unmarked in stoppage time.
Edinburgh’s team did have chances though, with Ryan Boot denying Josh Coulson before he produced a stunning stop to thwart Macauley Bonne.
“It just didn’t bobble for us in terms of Dean Brill seemed to dive and it would stick under him and they will say Boot has made a similar save and blocked Bonne with one where he spread himself,” Flowers said.
“Time and time again it seemed to stick on the line and it just needed a prod to help us score, but we are always going to be a threat from set-pieces.
“We have good deliveries coming in and good height and movement patterns and that is part of our game.
“The ball rolls out of the pitch about 130 times a match in this division – the ball is only in play for 60 minutes – so if you don’t know what you are doing from throw-ins and restarts you will be in big trouble, so that was a starting point for us.”
Flowers concluded: “I was delighted with the way we played. To a man the players were terrific.”
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