Travel report: Orient - Southampton

Four guys met at the airport in Bodø, ordering the first beer of their four day trip to London, one of many that is. They had two flights and about five hours before they would arrive in London. Three of them with sights on the Fulham-Liverpool game, and the last one would travel to Brisbane Road for the game against Southampton.

One of these guys was a member of ours, Tron E. Enger, and here's his travel report.

I met up with three of my friends at the airport in Bodø , the northern part of Norway, on thursday after work. It was time for our annual "trip-with-the-guys", and this time the destination was London.

Two flights and five hours later we arrived at Heathrow Airport, and got on the underground up to Russell Square, where our hotel was situated. We checked in, and got changed for a meal and some nightlife down in Leicester Square. We had a great time, with no family and kids, no worries, just the guys!

A slightly hangover on friday morning, but we were ready for some shopping and exploring, so we did some walking in the streets of London. Eating, drinking and just enjoing the Big City Life.  In the evening we had tickets for the QPR-Leicester game, not a particular good game, and we were all hoping for the home team, as we were"home supporters" in the stands of South Africa Road. QPR took the lead, but Leicester turned the game around, beeing the better side honestly.

Saturday was the big match day. My three friends had tickets for the Fulham-Liverpool game, and I wanted to find a way to catch the early kick-off of Arsenal-Spurs and get over to Brisbane Road to see the O's. I didn't buy tickets for the Arsenal game before we went, because the ticket price was ridiculous, over £300. My hope was finding a ticket at a more reasonable price, but I didn't. Even the ticket sharks up there didn't have tickets, and were trying to buy to sell, and they were looking for around the same amount, £300, for tickets if they had any. No way, so I got on the underground and travelled to Leyton, hoping to find a pub to catch the game. 

Got to Leyton a couple of hours before kick off, and went to the stadium to get a ticket first. Picked up the Away kit, because it looked so great, and bought my ticket for the West Stand, row K, seat 22, I believe it was.It was a lot of people in the supoorters club bar, and I tried to get in, but it was for members and their guest only. I said I was from the Scandinavian supporters club, and the nice guy with the tickets in the door, said that I could be his guest then. Thanks a lot! I'm not sure if there was a special occasion this match day, but the supporters bar was packed. They showed the Arsenal-Spurs game on theTVs, so a grabbed a couple of Fosters watching the game, and waiting for my first live Orient game since 2000. The Gunners' trashing of Spurs made my mood go even higher.

After Arsenals 3-0 victory was a fact, I went into the stadium, finding my seat and was amazed by the amount of away fans. They we're quite lively too, as the East Stand looked packed by Saints fans, but they went quiet soon after kick off, as Tamika Mkandawire gave us the lead. A great header from a Melligan cross after two minutes, but unfortunately Mkandawire had to leave the field, as he got injured when he scored. Looked like sacrified his head to get us that goal. Great guy!  Southampton were perhaps the better team before the break, but The O's held on to their lead to half time. The second half started great to. The lively Andros Townsend got a cross into the box, forcing Trotman to an own goal, and The O's were two up! Great atmosphere at the stadium, and East stand was very very quiet. I was enjoing myself as hell up there at the West stand, row K, seat 22. No one was sitting at seat 23, and on seat 24 sat an older guy, who was funny as hell. He kind of made my day as he got involved in the game, especially when Southampton started to get into the game. He had his comments about the refs. Great entertainment, and if you ever read this, then I send my best regards! With 20 minutes to go I still didn't feel safe about the game. To be honest, The Saints were the better team, and with 15 minutes to go Lambert scored for Southampton. That woke up the East stand, and I felt that the rest of the stadium were only waiting for an equalizer, as we all now that The O's have an tendency to let in late goals.Tem minutes later Rickie Lambert scored again, and Sothampton were pushing for the win.7500 on the stands saw that The O's held on for the draw. I was a little disappointed about letting the 2-0 lead slip in the last 15 minutes, but the home fans seemed quite happy with the point overall. Orient could easily bewithout a point in this game. I left the stadium to catch the train, and the Saints fans lokked satisfied too, coming from two goals behind. Some were singing as we were queing on our way to the train station. 

As said, I was a little disappointed about dropping three points, but at least we got a point. When I met up with my three friends, all Liverpool supporters, I could see that I had nothing to complain about. Fulham trashed Liverpool 3-1, two red cards for Pool and of course the norwegian, Erik Nevland, scored one and assisted another.We joked about something like that before the game. You could say that they were'nt that happy! But the mood changed when we put everything behind us and went out for a steak, some beers and a lot of gin & tonics.

Great trip overall, and who cares about my camera that I haven't seen since arriving at Heathrow Airport. To anyone who it may concern: Enjoy the pics!

Regards 

Tron E. Enger