These two sides have met several times recently, the latest being a difficult day for the O's in their chase for promotion near the end of last season. A 2:0 defeat to the north London based outfit in January 2024 certainly threw a spanner in the works and was partly the reason we fell short at the season's end. We stuttered, Richmond and Kew didn't so it is they who now play at Tier Six of the FA Women's National League structure.
At the time of the last meeting, Islington Ladies were safely berthed in mid-table whilst the Orient women were busy chasing the title. Indeed, on that Sunday, Orient had dropped fewer points than any other side which meant the championship was in their hands. That ceased to be the case after this result and it never returned.
Goals from Annie-Rose Dunn and Charlee Vaz did the damage and, despite numerous reasonable chances, a strangely off-colour Orient side couldn't trouble the score keeper.
Recent conversations with the folks at IBLFC reveal a heavy turnover of players during the off-season. Of the players who were in the side to beat the O's in January, only Mia Fadeni, Yelin Kim, Hannah Short, Abby Webster and goal-scorer Charlee Vaz were in last Sunday's squad from last season's full squad of 62 registered players. As a club official described their off-season to us: "the squad has been gutted".
Here's a look at how things were back in January 2024...

Islington are currently again safely in mid-table having played the bottom clubs (except us!) for the first three matches. Wins against Camden & Islington (no relation) and Luton Town reserves took the north London side to the top of the table. This was followed by a 1:1 away draw with strugglers Brentford 'B' and then a pair of 2:1 defeats to the division's stronger sides in the shape of Tooting Bec and South London Firsts. Although defeats, these latter performances were admirable against feared opposition.
Sunday's game probably takes on added importance in that defeat for either side will mean three losses in the first six games (for Islington) and three losses in the first four games (for Orient). It's doubtful anyone ever won a championship from a start like that. No pressure then!
Gazing deeply into the lofcwomen.com crystal ball produces mainly a foggy picture so, in view of the personnel losses suffered by Islington, we're going to put our monopoly money (albeit not very much of it) on Orient being too strong - due to the emergence of Sion Kamiende, the rejuvenation of Liliana Almeida, the recruitment of Stephanie McCaffrey and the good form of Leanne Bates. Last week saw a couple of freak goals conceded, aerial bomb style, which perhaps skewed the half time score of 4:3 to make Brentford look closer than they actually were. However, we've not exactly been water-tight at the back and Islington will know that. So, an Orient win.

Having looked at the en-masse changes within the Islington team and having taken a look back at last January's game against them (see video above), it's time to take stock of the people who have moved on from us and look at the effects it may have had.
That team included Chloe Kabo albeit as a sub. Chloe went on to show everyone what a bright future she has with her speed, incisive runs and calmness in front of goal. We were greatly disappointed to read that she had transferred to a Watford youth side. Like all other fan run media outlets, we are starved of information about such things so we can only guess that Chloe has been well advised and has a better opportunity wearing the yellow shirt of the Hornets.
The same case probably applies to Chloe Owen who moved to Clapton CFC and secured a berth in a Tier Six team. It's possible the quality of football in that league is not as good as it is in the Tier Seven Greater London Premiership. Nevertheless, Clapton are a great, inclusive and forward looking club with an amazing social scene.
Highly rated goal keeper Lola Duryaiye got a move to Hashtag Utd, a very successful outfit, so there's certainly headroom there for her to advance. We saw her playing for their reserve side recently which is at the same level as the O's ladies. Lola will doubtless fancy a shot at the first team at some future point.
We understand from her Instagram posts that fans' favourite Katie Hunt has moved to the USA, that's a bit too far to make a regular trip back every Sunday. Similarly, Kirsty Jackson, the super fitness guru, is developing her business abroad and is thus similarly unavailable. Charlotte Lynch can be seen everywhere, all over the internet, as she pursues her burgeoning career as an on-screen talent, she can often be seen in videos with Shakira Waithe so the two of them have new paths to travel.
Former Charlton Atheletic's Madelene Wright moved to Chesham Ladies for, as she called it, "competitive football". They are in a higher league but they'll need to get some results soon or they'll lose that status. It was probably not a good time to go there.
Finally, we come to the "disappeared off the face of the earth" category. In the same way as Paul and Steve on the Orient-Outlook-Podcast are asking (in last Sunday's episode) about the whereabouts of various un-seen players, we lament the loss of Sophie Tabor, a promising youngster. [Stop Press - Sophie is registered as a London Seawards player for 2024/25] Lily Hughes who made the first team squad on a couple of occasions from the under-18s but has not been seen since. Joanna Roman, a decent keeper but perhaps not what this team needs if the title chase is a serious goal. Niamh Carty arrived last year, we are told, from Seawards FC and made a good impression from the outset. However, her appearances became less regular as time went on and now... who knows?
Eleanor Jenks-Landen showed herself to be a steadfast and capable all-rounder who proved very useful as a strong defender, she also had the vision and skills to make some telling forward passes. Ellie will be missed. Finally, the loss of Hannah Jenks has (in my view.. Ed), left a very large vacancy for a box-to-box midfielder with excellent control, vision, tactical nouse and energy. It's likely Hannah will be playing somewhere but we can't find her. Some of us would very much like to see her return.
[Stop Press - Ellie and Hannah are playing this season at Barking FC Women's Reserves in the Essex County Women's League].

A big thank you to our contributors for your valued input! If you have any comments related to the women's teams, we'd be very happy to hear from you. You can reach out via email, 'X', Instagram, or WhatsApp to Larry on 07802 6408900. All the links are available on our home page.
We look forward to your views.