14 September 2026
- Ben's report on Sunday's draw
- Orient Outlook Podcast
- Ben's slideshow
- Re-live the game
- Other results round-up
Wormley Rovers 1:1 Leyton Orient
Hertford
Sept 13, 2026
After last week’s disappointing elimination from the FA Cup at the hands of Milton Keynes Irish, Orient looked to immediately return to winning ways with league match away against local rivals Wormley Rovers.
📷 @LOFC_women
With four players from last week’s tilt – Tiff Balfour, Dani Hindley, Abby Caldon and captain Stef Paci – unavailable and with other regulars absent, head coach Jody Buckley only had two substitutes while the home squad had five on the bench. In Paci’s absence, Gracie Hickman donned the captain’s armband.
The match’s opening moments belonged to Orient. The O’s could (should) have been awarded a penalty two minutes in after Wormely’s goalie stormed out of her crease and crashed into Amy Yeldham right at the boundary of the penalty box. However, no card or penalty was issued and the resulting free kick was for nought. A few minutes later, Yeldham was fed a lovely pass from Aleena Anwar but her shot agonisingly pings off the inside post.
📷 Ben James
After the initial Orient thrust, the Worms closed things down and didn't give the Os any space. It’s at this point game quickly turned into a very physical affair. Lily Aungier is brought down in an attacking position, but no foul was given. Hickman was also brought down, earning the O’s a free kick. Wormley got their first decent chance just before 20 minutes but their shot is well wide of the mark. Anwar went down, just a few moments later, and was replaced by Erin Cheyne. Anwar was clearly in discomfort as she was treated on the bench by the O’s physiotherapist.
The game’s first goal came just before 25 minutes and it was the home side who broke the deadlock. A shot from Yeldham hit the post again with the rebound falling kindly to a Wormley defender who then lobs it forward to an open Jessica Ronan-Cooper. Faulkner rushed forward from her goal area in an attempt to cut down the angle; however, Ronan-Cooper got her shot away cleanly and the ball squeezed just inside the left post for a Worms’ goal.
The game then ground to a halt with Wormley immediately closing in on any Orient player who has possession of the ball. The Os situation was not helped with some poorly placed passes that give the ball back to Wormley. Just before half-time, Orient had an opportunity to equalise from a corner, but Cheyne’s delivery went through the box, just out of the reach of her teammates. The score remained 1-0 after 45 minutes.
📷 Ben James
The tone at the start of the second half was same as how the first half played out – physical. An early corner for the O’s was easily cleared by Wormley and a few minutes later, a chance from the home side was saved by Faulkner.
About 10 minutes in, Anwar, now fit enough to return to the match, replaced Shannon Wason. Wormley had played it smart with their additional numbers as their coach was quick to replace tired players with fresh ones.
Players from both sides were getting irritated. Elissa Stonebrook brought down a Wormley player just outside of the box and thankfully for her, Faulkner was there to handle the free kick. Orient’s frustrations were then placed on hold. A poor pass from a Wormley player in their half was intercepted by Anwar who dribbled the ball to just outside of the 'D' and hit a strike that sailed over the arms of the goalie to level the score, just before 60 minutes.
Orient had the impetus and immediately went on the hunt for a second. They were awarded a free kick to the right of Wormley’s penalty area. Wormley’s goalie then threw the ball in frustration and words were exchanged between the players. The referee responded by pulling out her yellow card and pointing it at the Worm’s keeper. Unfortunately for Orient, they squandered their free kick.
📷 Ben James
Samantha Read was brought down hard just after 70 minutes, with the offending Wormley player being shown a yellow for her foul. Orient were the dominant side with the ball, but their possession in the home team’s side did not paying off. As with the first half, the O’s are wastefully turning the ball over through poor passing, halting any momentum.
With about 10 minutes to go, Buckley made his final changes with Edie Miller and Kaylee Shurety making way for Wason and youngster Havin Aygun. Both sides have their chances in the closing stages. A corner from Orient does threaten but it’s Wormley that have the best opportunity to snatch a win via a free kick deep into stoppage time – but their attempt sailed well over the O’s goal.
A 1-1 draw is how the chippy match ended. Despite being short on players, Orient should rue the final score. The visitors were the better squad but were let down by mistakes and regretful passing. This said, the O’s are still undefeated in the league and will hopefully be bolstered by the return of players for next Sunday’s home fixture at Cheshunt against Southend United.
O's line-up:
⚽ Freya Faulker (GK) ⚽ Beth Brogan ⚽ Erin Cheyne ⚽ Gracie Hickman ⚽ Elissa Stonebrook ⚽ Stef Paci(C) ⚽ Lily Aungier ⚽ Kaylee Shurety ⚽ Amy Yeldham ⚽ Samantha Read ⚽ Shannon Wason ⚽ Edie Miller ⚽ Aleena Anwar ⚽ Havin Aygun
Unavailable: Danielle Hindley, Stef Paci, Libby Keeler, Tiff Balfour, Brittany Varon, Sara Merican, Abby Caldon.
✍ Ben James
Orient Outlook Podcast
Paul and Steve at OOP continue to support the ladies' team and our role role in promoting it. We've changed things a little from this week, we're trialling sending them an audio file (straight after the match finishes) so now you'll get to hear our dulcet tones. Our first effort is bit 'tinny' but we'll get that right with practice, probably we'll have to replace our $3.99 microphone!
We prefer to use YouTube, 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 for the full podcast on YouTube from the beginning - a must for all Orient fans.
Wormley Rovers (A) slideshow
Thanks to Ben James for the images for this slideshow.
Re-live the game - as it happened
Making Live-Text shows can be frantic but a lot of fun as we bring you minute-by-minute updates as the games progress. Not knowing the outcome adds some spice to the mix. 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 - every game.
So review Sunday's battling draw at Wormley again by clicking the graphic below:
Results round-up
There were five games in our league on Sunday.
Here are the results:
Eastern Region WFL Division 1 (South)
| D1S | AFC Welwyn | 0:6 | Chelmsford |
| D1S | Colchester | 3:4 | Hertford |
| D1S | Southend 1 | 1:2 | Enfield Tn |
| D1S | Toby | 1:1 | AFC Sudbury |
| D1S | Wormley | 1:1 | L Orient |
⚽ The league is starting to show where everyone is at this early stage. Chelmsford are forging ahead with three straight wins and 12-1 GD. Seventh placed Welwyn had no answers.
⚽ Hertford Town move up to second in the table, they also have nine points but have played four games. Colchester Utd have lost all three of their games and now sit bottom.
⚽ Southend are proving a much tougher proposition than last season where they struggled. They lost a tight game against recently relegated (yet fancied to do well) Enfield Town. The Shrimpers come to Cheshunt next Sunday to face Orient - and we will struggle if we can't get a full team and sub's bench ready to face them.
⚽ Toby Women picked up their first point of the season with a creditable draw at rated AFC Sudbury, Toby have been making progress in their recent results.
The current table is shown on the FA's web page for our league:
ERWFL Division 1 TABLE