Leyton Orient Women

Leyton Orient 4:3 Hertford Town

Match Report – October 11, 2026
Cheshunt.

Coming off back-to-back goalless League and Cup defeats, momentum and form were clearly not in Orient’s favour as they hosted undefeated Hertford Town at Cheshunt. To say that this match would be a test of the O’s resilience would certainly come to fruition.

Head coach Jody Buckley had sixteen players available this week, with Beth Brogan and the very recently engaged Sam Read returning – with Read getting the nod to start whilst the youngster Brogan was on the bench – along with Aleena Anwar, Dani Hindley, Shannon Wason and Libby Keeler. Making a welcome first appearance was this season’s “braces” home kit – meaning the white kit can now be reserved solely for away matches.

📷 Ben James

Unfortunately, the game’s opening stanza was almost a carbon copy of last week’s defeat to AFC Welwyn. Just a minute into the match, a poor defensive pass gifted Hertford’s Charlei Wells a one-on-one with O’s goalie Fliss Tatum. Wells couldn’t believe her luck and easily slotted the ball past Tatum into the Orient goal.

Orient tried to respond quickly. Striker Amy Yeldham had two decent chances to level the score, but one attempt was efficiently blocked by a Hertford defender whilst her second was shot right at keeper Ellie Draper.

Then, at nine minutes, Hertford doubled their lead. Their number eight, Olivia Fraser, found herself in open space 25 yards out from goal and launched a cannonball of a shot that whacked the underside of the crossbar on its way into the back of the net.

Orient were reeling and Hertford tried to twist the knife. An offside call neutralized a promising attack from the visitors and Fliss Tatum was called on several times to keep her side in the game.

📷 Ben James

But just as Orient seem to regain their footing, Hertford – once again – extended their lead. This time, number seven Lily Barber launched a ball from near the corner towards the O’s goal. It managed to sail over everyone, including a leaping Tatum, into the far corner of the net. Only Barber herself knows if it was an attempt on target or a pass; however, either way it was a goal and, after 30 minutes, a 3 : 0 Hertford lead.

Orient tried to counter and press forward for the remaining 15 minutes of the half. Amy Yeldham was grabbed in the box and lost possession, however no foul was given. A few minutes later, she managed a shot on target but this was no bother to Hertford’s keeper. After a minute of added play, the referee blew for half-time and a dejected looking Orient trudged off to their dressing room while Hertford were practically skipping.

📷 Ben James

To start the second half, Buckley made wholesale changes to the squad. All five substitutes came on, replacing captain Stef Paci, Erin Cheyne, Gracie Hickman, Kaylee Shurety and Edie Miller.

Right from the kick off, the effects were immediate and positive. Midfielder Lily Aungier found Libby Keeler in space whose shot beat Draper but went agonizingly wide of the net. Orient had stepped up their intensity, led by the talented teenage duo of Anwar and Keeler, and began to create more chances,.

And then finally, just past the hour mark, Orient scored their first goal of the match and their first in over 200 minutes of play. A Shannon Wason free kick from 30 yards was on target and forced the Hertford keeper to parry it away – only to see Anwar rush in and slot the rebound over the goal line.

📷 Ben James

Momentum had clearly swung towards the O’s. The visitors were conceding fouls and could not find their footing. Then the lead shrank to one with just under 20 minutes to go, as Keeler was sent through alone on the Hertford goalie and made no errors in sending the ball into the back of the net.

Just a minute later, Keeler tied things up with a lob shot that went over the hapless keeper. Three goals in less than 10 minutes and the game was now Orient’s to lose. Hertford just had no answers to Orient’s speedy youngsters.

📷 Ben James

Another foul to the left of Hertford’s goal at 75 minutes resulted in another Shannon Wason free kick. This time, her kick found Brogan’s head who nodded the ball past Draper to give Orient the lead.

Orient were flying and could have increased their lead five minutes later as Yeldham’s shot from distance beat the Hertford keeper but went just over the bar. To their credit, the visitors did manage to regroup and were presented with a free kick with just over five minutes to go but it went for nought. Their pressing continued right afterwards and forced Hindley to make a tackle that drew the referee’s yellow card.

But that was it for Hertford. An added time altercation in the visitor’s end between Anwar and a defender saw both players given yellow cards and unfortunately for the Hertford player, it was her second – so off she went. But then a minute later, the referee blew his whistle for the final time, sealing a 4 – 3 comeback victory for the O’s.

📷 Ben James

Whilst Buckley and his coaching crew of Marc Wilson and Stu Hudson must be delighted with the victory and the way the team fought back, a headache or two about who to start in the future might be of some bother. Despite being down 3 – 0 after 45 minutes, the team was not totally dominated in the first half. Hertford just didn’t make any mistakes when it came to their chances on goal. That’s football, though.

📷 Ben James

With their victory, Orient have tied Hertford at top spot in the Premier League south, with Southend United nipping at their heels – just one point off. No League match next Sunday, but a Capital Women’s Cup tie at home against Sporting Duet XI awaits. Despite being an all-new squad, Orient are the defending champions in this tournament and vanquished Duet twice last season by a combined 32 – 1 on their way to steamroll the Greater London Women's Football League’s Premier Division. This said, expect a more competitive match.

Audio report

Paul and Steve, at the Orient-Outlook-Podcast, featured the Bradford City game and covered the match against Hertford 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 HiFi copy of their audio report (2 mins 13 secs long) can be heard by clicking HERE

Hertford Town (H) slideshow

Images by Ben James

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Re-live the game - as it happened

Sunday's live-Text show was a roller coaster of emotion as, at half time, we were 3:0 down and thinking "game over" only to have the most unbelievable second half in our collective memories. These 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 wonderful come-back 4:3 victory over Hertford Town, just click the graphic below:

Sunday's results round-up

There were five Division 1 South (D1S) league games on Sunday, here's how they went:-

⚽  Southend did well to take maximum points at AFC Sudbury Reserves. Sudbury were the main challengers for the top spot, they're now amid several others in the position - including Southend.

⚽  Enfield and Chelmsford were the last unbeaten teams in the league, now it's only Enfield but tboth are several games back due to their heavy Cup games involvement. One or both will almost certainly be vying for top spot sooner or later.

⚽  AFC Welwyn and Toby both continue strengthening their hold on mid-table as they start to pull away from bottom clubs Hutton and Colchester Utd.

The current league table

Updated after yesterday's results.

We'll be back on Thursday with a preview of next Sunday's Capital Cup match at home to Greater London Premier League side Sporting Duet plus any other news we can gather in the meantime.