WATERS STRIKE SAVES ROBINS
GARY Johnson’s newlypromoted Cheltenham avoided defeat in their first game back in League Two thanks to Billy Waters’ secondhalf strike.
The Robins boss offered a few choice words at the interval to spur the National League champions to rescue a point, after a languorous first half in which they fell behind after just three minutes.
Johnson said: “I thought Orient had the momentum in the first 10-15 minutes and when you concede early the opposition relax very quickly.
“But we were getting there or thereabouts first half without really doing anything. We had to show a lot more intent and I asked them nicely at half-time if they wouldn’t mind livening themselves up.
“Once we did that, we got the ball with quality up into their third and we had a lot of shots, there were a lot of blocks, and it was a great bit of football that led to the goal.”
Orient scored the first League Two goal of the new season just three minutes in, with Gavin Massey scoring on his debut off Sandro Semedo’s cross.
Semedo should have added a goal to his assist 13 minutes later when Robbie Weir’s clever passed corner came to his feet in plenty of space, but he hit wide of the near post.
Cheltenham had a penalty shout correctly waved away on 29 minutes after Amari Morgan-Smith tumbled in the box under pressure, leaving the Robins deservedly behind at the break.
The second half saw Orient shrink away after their impressive first half, giving Cheltenham the opportunity to get back into the game. Dan Holman fired a warning shot on 66 minutes, but his six-yard stab was off target. Waters finally found the opening for Town 76 minutes in after excellent link-up play down the left by Morgan-Smith and Danny Whitehead, with the latter’s cross giving the substitute an easy finish. Harry Pell forced Alex Cisak into a save late on as Cheltenham pushed for a winner, but the game finished in a fair stalemate. Orient boss Andy Hessenthaler said: “We knew what to expect from Cheltenham in terms of they won their league last year and it’s their first game back in this league, so it was always going to be a tough place to come.
“The only thing is we only scored one goal in the first half and we could easily have scored maybe two or three.
“Second half we knew they’d come at us down the slope and it’s hard to play against.
“All in all it was a good performance, great work ethic by the players, and a point on the board first game away at a tough place.”
Hessenthaler was tightlipped on speculation that star striker Jay Simpson may be on the verge of joining Southend United, saying only “he wasn’t available for selection.”