Leyton Orient Women

5 October 2026

• Ben's reports on a defeat
• Audio briefing
• Ben's slideshow
• Re-live the game
• Other results round-up

AFC Welwyn 3:0 Leyton Orient

Match Report – October 4, 2026
Hertfordshire Sports Village,
Hatfield

Coming off a League Cup defeat to Harpenden Town, Leyton Orient looked to immediately return to winning ways with an away trip to the Hertfordshire Sports Village in Hatfield to face AFC Welwyn.

📷 Ben James

Orient had reasons for optimism. Coming into this match the Romans had conceded 18 goals in League competition – the most of any team – and the O’s had already felled the Roman’s 5-1 in August during the League Cup clash.

Orient took to the pitch with a few changes compared with last week’s lineup. Striker Tiff Balfour, who had picked up a knock, was absent as were Beth Brogan and Amy Day; however, Edie Miller was back and Aimee Brosnan, the club’s most recent signing, was on the bench.

The game’s first decent scoring opportunity came a minute in as Welwyn were forced to concede a corner. Unfortunately for the O’s, Captain Stef Paci’s volley off Erin Cheyne’s corner went wide of the Roman's goal. Welwyn’s first sniff came a few minutes later but O’s keeper Fliss Tatum was up to the challenge. Lily Aungier then has decent chance, but it was saved by Tatum’s opposite number.

However, it was Welwyn who broke the deadlock at eight minutes thanks to a great strike by an unmarked player from almost 30 yards out. There was nothing Tatum could do as the ball sailed just over her outstretched hands. If Fliss was a foot taller, she might have kept it out.

Three minutes later, the Roman’s doubled their lead. Some inadequate defense play allowed a Welwyn player to get off a shot that alluded Tatum. The O’s were lucky not to get punished from the resulting kick-off as a lapse in concentration saw Welwyn cheaply intercept a pass with the attempt at goal going just wide. Tatum was called on to save Orient’s bacon after another mistake gave the Roman’s a further attempt on target. After 25 minutes, the O’s found themselves fortunate to be only 2-0 down.

📷 Ben James

It was Aleena Anwar who managed to settle things down, as the youngster’s speed and ball control helped get the play back into Welwyn’s half of the pitch. She put a scare into the Romans thanks to a shot that went just over the crossbar. Five minutes later, she took the ball away from a defender in the box and slotted it past the keeper into the goal. Unfortunately for Anwar and Orient, the ball had inadvertently hit her wrist and the referee, who had a clear view of the play, ruled the goal out.

Just as Orient were getting their stride, Welwyn managed to nab their third thanks to a rebound off a Tatum save. Another momentary lapse had cost the O’s again.

But just before halftime, Orient were handed a lifeline. Striker Amy Yeldham was clear on goal and was brought down just outside the Welwyn box. As the offending defender was the last outfield player back, the referee promptly reached for his red card and sent the Roman matching off the pitch. Unfortunately for the O’s Dani Hindley’s subsequent free kick sailed over the bar, giving Orient a mountain to climb in the second half.

📷 Ben James

To their credit, the O’s came out charging in the second half, to take advantage of their numerical advantage. An early corner went for nought as did a free kick. 10 minutes in, Orient had a glorious chance on a gaping goal, but a lunge from an outstretched Welwyn leg, kept it out.

Orient’s pressure forced a Welwyn midfielder to make a foul, drawing a yellow card. A few minutes later, a Welwyn defender also was shown a yellow card for her mistimed tackle on Elissa Stonebrook, who went down clutching her shin.

Despite Orient being the dominant team in the second half, they remained goalless. A triple substitution at 75 minutes saw Dani Hindley, Libby Keeler and Shannon Wason subbed off for Edie Miller, Havin Aygun and Aleena Anwar, who had to come off earlier in the second half after getting a bloodied mouth.

Even with this triple change, Orient’s attack over the final 15 minutes was toothless as Welwyn just soaked up any attacks and intelligently cleared the ball to safety when there was pressure. With the referee’s final whistle, Orient fell to their second defeat in a row and their first in League competition.

📷 Ben James

There’s no way to sugarcoat the result. The match was a disappointment and the squad and the coaching staff know this. Too many mistakes with second touches and lapses in concentration were the culprits. Hopefully, this week’s practice will help alleviate this prior to next Sunday’s match against league leaders Hertford at home at Cheshunt.

Audio report

Paul and Steve, at the Orient-Outlook-Podcast, featured a two-game review for the women's group. You can listen in to their full podcast by clicking the "Outlook" image below...

If you are mainly interested in the women's team update, a copy of their audio report (2 mins 40 secs long) can be heard by clicking HERE

AFC Welwyn (A) slideshow

Images by Ben James.

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If you have the promotion of the women's team at heart, please feel free to use our images in your noble quest.

Re-live the game - as it happened

Making Live-Text shows can be a bit frantic but it's a lot of fun bringing you minute-by-minute updates as the game progresses. 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.

To review Sunday's blow-by-blow disappointing 3:0 defeat away at AFC Welwyn, just click the graphic below:

Sunday's fixtures round-up

There were three FA Cup games (FAC) involving clubs in our Division region on Sunday - plus four Division 1 -South (D1S) league games.

Eastern Region Division 1 (South) teams (that's us) are shown with a *.

⚽  Chelmsford City did us Division One residents proud with a so-close defeat to strong running Premier division outfit Harpenden Town, a single goal settling it.

⚽  Billericay continue on their downward spiral with a heavy defeat to Tier 6 side Enfield.

⚽  Toby did well, at least according to the form book, by taking a point at table topping Hertford Town, who come to the Os next Sunday.

⚽  Wormley continue to put their poor start to the season behind them with a surprise win at 2nd placed AFC Sudbury Reserves. Chelmsford City and Enfield Town are the only remaining unbeaten sides in the division.

We'll be back on Thursday with a preview of next Sunday's match at home to Hertford Town plus any other news we can gather in the meantime.