Leyton Orient 5:1 AFC Welwyn

31 August 2026

Ben's report on Sunday's win
Orient Outlook Podcast
Ben's slideshow
Re-live the game
Other results round-up

Leyton Orient 5:1 AFC Welwyn

Cheshunt
August 30, 2026

📷 LOFCwomen.com

An Eastern Region League Cup match was on the cards Sunday as Orient welcomed fellow Division One South side AFC Welwyn to Cheshunt. Like the O’s, the "Romans" are undefeated so far in the League, albeit they’ve only played one match – a 5-4 thriller against Colchester United as their fixture last weekend. Their game against Hashtag United was postponed due the Tags being unable to field a side.
That said, would the young Orient side succumb to their own conquest at the hands of the Welwyn ladies? Well… Spoiler alert, the answer was no, as the Romans got grounded from the get-go and couldn’t really establish a beachhead.

Right from the kick-off, Orient were deep inside the Romans half. An initial shot on target from Erin Cheyne was saved by Welwyn’s keeper but striker Amy Yeldham was there to tap in the rebound to open the scoring a minute into the match. Just a few minutes later, Orient were back in the Welwyn six-yard box and forced the defending side to concede a corner. The resulting short take by Cheyne was directed to Gracie Hickman whose attempt went just wide. Welwyn then had a chance of their own from a corner, but this opportunity was wasted as a header from an attacking player sailed over goalie Freya Faulkner and the O’s net.

Cheshunt - a perfect setting for footie!

📷 Ben James

And then Orient doubled their lead just before the 10-minute mark when Yeldham was fed a ball and her shot from 10 yards out found its way into the goal after deflecting off the underside of the crossbar. Despite going 2-0 down early, Welwyn didn’t fold and had their chances to swiftly get back into the match, but O’s defence and keeper just would not let this happen.

Yeldham almost bagged a hattrick half-an-hour in, but her shot hit the woodwork and stayed out this time. Unfortunately for Yeldham, her foot caught the turf as she shot the ball, and she hit the ground in pain. After some on-the-pitch treatment, she hobbled off – forcing coach Jody Buckley to make his first substitution, bringing in Samantha Read. Thankfully, for Yeldham this knock was not as serious as first feared as she returned to the match in the second half.
Just as it looked both sides would head to their dressing rooms at halftime with the score at 2-0, Lily Aungier had other plans. Her stinging shot off a pinpoint Shannon Wason pass bulged the Roman netting – giving the O’s a commanding three goal lead after 45 minutes.

Just one (freak) goal conceded so far. O's back line are proving their worth

📷 Ben James

After the teams emerged to kick-off the second half, Buckley made his second change with Sara Merican coming on for Beth Brogan. While not quite a replay of the opening to the first half, Orient came out of the gates and exerted dominance over their Hertfordshire opponents. Some dogged determination and a brilliant pass from the Singaporean Merican saw Orient extend their lead as Shannon Wason scored her first O’s goal.

Orient struck again at the hour mark after Welwyn conceded a corner. This time it was Danielle Hindley who collected the honours as the visitors couldn't clear a loose ball out of their six-yard box.
Right after the goal, Buckley made two more changes. Off went captain Stef Paci (who had another solid match) and Erin Cheyne. to be replaced by Abby Caldon and Edie Miller. Just as it looked that the O’s were in a position to collect their third clean sheet of the season, Welwyn managed to get their first, and only, goal of a match. A Roman's top scorer Rachel Wall took full-advantage of a lack of communication from some Orient players to steal the ball and slot into the lower corner of the net to make in 5-1.

Stinging from this miscue, Orient immediately tried to make amends. Hindley, Aungier, Read and Caldon all had chances but Welwyn’s goalie was up to the task. Despite her team conceding five goals, she’d put in a sterling performance.

Abby Caldon flying in for a header but just couldn't get enough on it to keep it on target — Samantha Read flying in for a header but just couldn't get enough on it to keep it on target

📷 Ben James

Buckley made his final changes with Elissa Stonebrook, Shannon Wason and Gracie Hickman making way for Erin Cheyne, Beth Brogan and Amy Yeldham.
Both teams each got one more kick at the can before the final whistle. Faulkner was called upon and wisely kicked a threatening ball to safety whilst the O’s almost got the sixth just before full time but Merican’s pass was just out of Read's reach and went out for a goal kick.

So we have a comfortable 5-1 win for Orient who now advance in the League Cup. Well-played to Welwyn who definitely have a very good squad and will obviously be out for a little revenge when the O’s will face them twice this season in the League.
However, next up for Orient is an FA Cup tie on Sunday at Cheshunt against Milton Keynes Irish. This could be a tough test as the Irish play in Northamptonshire Women's and Girls Football League Premier Division, that is technically a tier above us.
The next round of the ERWFL League Cup (Round 2) sees a home game against ERWFL Premier division (Tier 5) side Harpenden Town, set for 27th September. On Sunday just gone, Harpenden lost 8:0 to Brentwood - which included a Poppy Binding hat-trick. Maybe we can claim a Tier 5 scalp?

O's line-up:

⚽ Freya Faulker (GK) ⚽ Beth Brogan ⚽ Erin Cheyne ⚽ Gracie Hickman ⚽ Elissa Stonebrook ⚽ Danni Hindley ⚽ Stef Paci(C) ⚽ Lily Aungier ⚽ Kaylee Shurety ⚽ Amy Yeldham ⚽ Samantha Read ⚽ Shannon Wason ⚽ Sara Merican ⚽ Abby Caldon ⚽ Edie Miller.

✍ Ben James

Orient Outlook Podcast

Our thanks to Paul and Steve at OOP for their continued support of the ladies' team. It's worth saying that most of the independent fans-led groups do work hand-in-hand in order to help promote and publicise the club overall. Here's a link to OOP's audio update of the women's game on Sunday, they usually broadcast it within a few hours of the final whistle.
We always choose the YouTube recordings as we support any platform which doesn't require you to sign up to anything - just like LOFCwomen.com. Click the image to go straight to the women's report - it will save you hunting back and forth for it.

Click THIS LINK to view the full podcast on YouTube - a must for all Orient fans.

AFC Sudbury slideshow

Thanks to Ben James for the images for this slideshow.

Re-live the game - as it happened

We enjoy making our Live-Text shows where we bring you minute-by-minute updates as the games progress. These events are fueled by the shared excitement of not knowing how the game will be resolved, Yesterday's match was no exception. We have Larry Peterson and Ben James (plus friends and the LOFCwomen.com air-horn) at the games, they send in reports every couple of minutes and we post them, live! straight onto our website. There are no adverts, no cookies, no tracking, no sponsors and there's no need to keep refreshing the page to see the latest update - we do all that. We'll be doing it again next Sunday....

So enjoy the moments - again - by clicking the graphic below:

A wider view...

When we get the time, we try to have a look around at the teams in our league and any other related news of interest. Here are Sunday's results concerning teams in our division and nearby.

Eastern Region WFL League Cup Rnd 1

LC	Hutton	H:W	Hashtag Res
LC	Chelmsford City	2:0	Southend Utd
LC	Hertford Tn	2:1	Wormley Rovers

Hashtag Reserves failed to show for the 2nd match in a row, that's not a good sign.
As predicted, league favourites Chelmsford City got past Southend Utd so maintain their back-to-back wins this season.
Two teams viewed as probable mid-table runners fought out a close battle which saw Hertford squeeze into the next round.

Eastern Region WFL Division 1 (South)

D1S	AFC Sudbury R	5:0	Colchester Utd
D1S	Leyton Orient	5:1	AFC Welwyn
D1S	Needham Mkt	2:4	Enfield Tn

The fact that AFC Sudbury brushed aside Colchester Utd, having lost 3:1 to us the previous Sunday, gives the Orient ladies some confidence that Col Utd is a winnable match.
Enfield Town continue their winning streak by putting away our northern cousins (relative to us of course) of Needham Market. There's always a keen competitive edge when this league's two Tier 6 groups meet. So it's One up to us southerners!