18 May 2026
We win "EVERYTHING"
- Ben's match report, Tooting Bec vs Orient
- Coming UP...
The full set...
The women's season came to a close on Sunday with our un-stoppable ladies winning the John Greenacre Memorial Trophy (effectively that's the Greater London League Cup) to add to their Capital Cup victory and wining the Premier Division title. That's 27 wins in 27 matches - more about that later...
Ben's Cup Final Report
Orient 4:1 Tooting Bec
May 17th 2026
For the second time in just two weeks, Leyton Orient travelled west to face Tooting Bec – this time for both teams’ final match of the season. Having wrapped up their undefeated Premier League title winning season a week-and-a-half ago against Luton Town, today’s match was the O’s opportunity to earn a treble of silverware, with the John Greenacre Memorial Trophy (JGMT) on the line.
A fortnight ago, the O’s thrashed their opponents 10-1 at Bec’s home ground in Mitcham. This time, the neutral Bedfont Sports Club, right next to Heathrow’s southern flight approach runway, was the venue.
📷 Ben James
Under sunny skies, a pleasant breeze and a cacophony of overhead jet engines along with horns, megaphones and applause from both sets of supporters, the teams marched onto the pitch for the pre-match handshakes and photos.
The trio of Wiki Fronc, Lucy Porter and Macie Windsor, who were not in the squad against Luton, were available to play so gave coach Jason Stepehens added options; however, Steph McCaffrey and Eva Carvahlo were absent from the team sheet.
📷 Ben James
With the formalities over, the referee blew his whistle and the match got underway. Orient’s first decent opportunity came at five minutes; however, Poppy Binding’s effort was cleared away by Bec’s defensive corps. A couple of minutes later, Bria Abbiati had a decent strike but it sailed over the net for a goal kick.
The O’s constant pressure paid off at 10 minutes when Maddie Biggs, five yards from goal, tapped home a pinpoint cross from Grace Gillard to open the scoring.
📷 Ben James
Orient were not content with their lead and continued to press towards Bec’s goal. This unrelented pressure created several decent opportunities but amounted to nothing as the O’s shots either went over or wide of the net or were saved by Bec’s goalie Rosie Lethbridge.
Despite the Bec defensive hard work and solid goalkeeping, Orient struck again at the 26-minute mark as Georgia Griffin, standing just outside the 18-yard penalty box, moved in to collect a 10-yard pass from Lucy Porter and sailed the ball above the outstretched hands of Lethbridge into the far corner of the net.
📷 Ben James
Undaunted by Orient’s potent offensive threat and determined not be on the receiving end of another thumping, Bec thrust their way into the O’s end of the pitch. Their efforts nearly paid off but some timely tackles by full-back Olivia McGregor, who was having another solid defensive outing, thwarted Bec’s chances.
Orient responded by efficiently moving the ball back down the pitch but their efforts come to naught as the balls continue to sail over the net or are managed by Bec’s vocal goalie. A few minutes before half-time Maddie Biggs thought she was through on goal, but the linesman’s flag was correctly raised for offside.
Just as it looked like the teams would head to their changing rooms with the score 2-0, Bec were awarded a free kick about 25 yards from the O’s net. Charlotte Stiff unleashed a laser-guided rocket that flew over the O’s defence and goalie Lola Durojaiye into the far top corner of the net. Cheers and jubilation erupted from Bec’s players, bench and supporters as they realised, that at halftime, they were more than into this match and could pull off a massive upset.
📷 Ben James
Responding to Tooting Bec’s resurgent performance, Jason Stephens decided to make three changes to start the second half. Off came Bria Abbiati, Abbi Smith and Poppy Binding and on came Wiki Fronc, Macie Windsor and Esme Lancaster. Full of confidence, Bec tried to capitalise on their momentum from the whistle with a determined foray into Orient’s end. A shot from the underdogs went agonisingly wide of the net and Durojaiye was called on to make some saves and clear the ball to safety.
After fending off Bec’s early advances, the O’s started to assert control once again. Orient flooded into the opposition’s half with Macie Windsor and Maddie Biggs volleying the ball forward. Despite this renewed dominance the ball did not find the back of the net as Lethbridge continued her steadfast safeguarding of the Bec goal.
Telling of a close scoreline, the match was a physical affair with players from both teams putting in strong tackles and crashing to the pitch. Orient’s Flo Donnelly was shown a yellow card for a late tackle and play was stopped for the treatment of Bec players, two of whom had succumbed to muscle cramps which forced the team to sub them off. Captain Grace Gillard was lucky to escape with only a warning for a poor challenge.
The second half deadlock continued as Jason Stephens took off Macie Windsor and sent Binding back on. Despite their heroics, Bec’s defence eventually gave way at 82 minutes as Wiki Fronc headed an Esme Lancaster cross over the line to make it 3-1.
📷 Ben James
Six-minutes later, Orient put the final nail in the coffin as Wiki Fronc then played the assist role to set up a Binding tap-in finish with only a few minutes left to play.
Soon after, the referee blew his whistle to end the match. Almost the entire Orient squad walked over to Rosie Lethbridge to shake her hand and congratulate her for her outstanding play. Unsurprisingly, the Bec goalie was awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ award by the GLWFL officials. Whilst Olivia McGregor shone for Orient, Lethbridge’s play was the story.
📷 Ben James
The medals and the JGMT were brought out for the awards ceremony. First up were Bec, who celebrated their runners-up medals by downing beers in one go. Orient were a bit more reserved, having come into the match as the clear favourites having already won the GLWFL Premier Division and the Capital Women’s Cup. Nevertheless, the O’s celebrated their win in style with bubbly being sprayed around as captain Gillard raised the trophy in victory, capping off a remarkable promotion winning season and a treble of trophies.
What’s next for Orient? Most likely, the team will play next season in the London & South East Regional Women's Division 1 North, the sixth tier, and will have the opportunity to defend their Capital Cup. Or perhaps the FA will grant the O’s promotion to the fifth tier. Who knows? But whatever happens, it will bring changes, challenges and new opportunities.
Ben James ✍
Coming up...
Before we hang up our cameras, notebooks and keyboards, we plan to put together a season's review but that may take a while. We'll bring this to you folks once we get it done. We don't know if this season will lead to a similar one next season, a lot can happen between then and now so please join us in celebrating the best and most successful Orient team, of either gender, has ever had.
Contact us
Our ever busier inbox from our contact form is encouraging that interest in the women's team continues to grow apace. You can message us that way and remain anonymous but it does mean we cannot reply to you. A more direct route is to simply email us at lofcwomen@yahoo.com - we always respond.
In response to 'Çigdem' who asks: "When will the Greater London Women's Football League premier table be updated to reflect the historical campaigns? You did a great job this season keeping us all informed, thanks !!! (Submitted 19 May 2026)
Thanks for your kind words Çigdem, if we understand your "historical campaigns" correctly, are you referring to previous years? If so, go to the FA's GLWFL website for the Premier division and you'll see a box marked "Season" which has a drop down menu. Select the year you want to see from the drop down options. Leyton Orient didn't join the Premier division until 2023/24. We were in Division One North in 2022/23 and in Division 2 North-East in 2021/22 when we reformed into a "new" Leyton Orient. We hope this helps.