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The Orient ladies returned to league action this weekend with an away match at newly promoted Sporting Duet, a team based at Chiswick in west London. As predicted by pretty much everyone, the west Londoners had no answers to the attacking prowess of the east London side - despite missing five of our top stars - including the two top goal scorers.

The afternoon started with Os sitting three points behind leaders Tooting Bec but having three games in hand. Bec had an awkward away game at high-flying Croydon Athletic but this was called off late in the day so today's result puts us back at the top on GD, now with two games in hand. It was a very one-sided affair with so many goals and chances coming in, it was sometimes difficult to keep count of everything. The final whistle went just as a 25 yarder from Hayley West hit the net. Goals from Wiktoria Kiszkis, Esme Lancaster, Georgia Griffin, two from Hayley West, three from Wiki Fronc plus SIX from star-of-the-show: Poppy Binding.

With a mix of opportunism, getting to the right place at the right time and, above all, displaying stunning skills aligned with shooting power, Poppy seems to have equalled Steph MacCaffrey's and Sammy Rowlands records (as far as we can recall) by scoring six goals in a competitive game. Steph did it against AFC Leyton earlier this season, Sammy also scored six in an FA Cup match at Hitchin Belles. Poppy's first half hat-trick was followed by another in the second half including 25 yarders after running into position with the ball, left footers, right footers.. everything. Indeed, a master-class in making and taking chances.

At the outset, when we learnt that our two top scorers, Sammy Rowland and Steph McCaffrey were not in the squad, there were questions as to where the goals may come from. Add to that, the absence of the ace chance-maker Ellie Thomas-Leek, the missing left side playmaker and heading specialist Lucy Porter plus the loss of ace overlapping left-back Lois Heuchan... there was an air of having the power taken out of the side. That turned out not to be a problem the moment Wiktoria Kiszkis opened the scoring in the first minute (is that another record broken?).
Eva Carvalho, Liv McGregor, Emily Dilliway and Georgia Griffin all warmed to their task of being in the starting line-up by taking the game to the home side. In any case, we had Poppy Binding, she was completely unstoppable.

It was a shame to lose our Zero-goals-against record, not that Duet did anything to score it. They did get a corner which Lola Duroyaiye moved to collect but the wet ball squirmed from her grasp and deflected into the net. Sorry Lola, it can be lonely for goal keepers at times.

A special mention for Eva Carvalho who made her return to the team after a lengthy spell on the injury list. She got through her first 45 minute stint and looked good doing it. Welcome back Eva!
As usual, unsung heroes Esme Lancaster and Gemma Baker were busy doing the lung-busting hard work in the middle which allowed the ladies in red (although we were playing in the green away kit) to dominate possession. Equally, the back line of Kallie Balfour, Emily Dilliway and Grace Gillard kept the home forwards at bay, helped out by the tireless aggression of Hayley West in the defensive midfield role - who bagged a brace for good measure.

A quick note of appreciation to Sammy Rowland who, despite limping around with a crutch/stick, took the time to chat with the lofcwomen.com crew and pointed out some footy stuff being played on the pitch. Much appreciated Sammy!

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To see the minute-by-minute breakdown of the game, as it happened, here's a link to Sunday's lofcwomen.com's Live-Text streaming service page. All the action as seen from the touchline and as reported at 100 mph by us (check out the typos!). Just click the image below. The earliest items start at the bottom of the page, the final update is at the top.

LIVE-Text streaming page

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There were only three other Greater London Premier Division matches on Sunday, the scores were...

Lge	AFC Croydon Ath	P : P	Tooting Bec
Lge	Islington Borough	1 : 4	South London
Lge	UCL Academicals	2 : 0	Comets WFC

AFC Croydon and Tooting Bec didn't get the chance to sort out which of them will provide the biggest challenge to Orient's title push, early December rain had put paid to the fixture. It does mean we were able to catch up with one of the three games in hand we had over Tooting and, by dint of the win over Duet, we were able to re-take top spot in the Premier division.

Islington Borough, Having suffered a 5:1 defeat to South London last Sunday, they had to play the same side again this Sunday, this time at home. This was as a result of rare circumstance caused by a mixture of postponements due the bad weather and also due to South London making progress in the FA Cup until recently. Borough reduced the deficit a little to go down 4:1 but they are looking at a mountain to climb as they fiGht to keep their premier league status.

London Academicals (aka: University College London women's team) and Comets WFC fought out another tough encounter in which the former poked a collective finger in the eye of our pre-match prediction by coming through with a 2:0 win. The Accies come to us in Cheshunt on 21st December.

All Orient's results, league and cups, can be seen HERE . An additional fixture has been added on 4/1/2026, a home league game against Islington Borough. The official league table (and much more) can be seen via our Info and Menu page.

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Next Sunday sees the Orient ladies travel "way down south" to play AFC Croydon Athletic. This is the return match from the game played on 19th October which saw our girls run out 7:0 winners. Croydon showed themselves to be more resilient than other premier division sides and will doubtless be keen to show everyone they are capable of troubling the undefeated Os. There is one fear however, Croydon's game last Sunday at home to Tooting Bec was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, it seems we'll need a little less rain between now and Next Sunday to have much chance of getting the game played. Fingers crossed for that!

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