Leyton Orient’s clinical finishing helped them secure a 4-0 win over our Women’s Under-19s on Sunday in our penultimate friendly of pre-season.
In a well-contested friendly at Cheshunt FC as we faced our second outing this summer following the test of Fulham, our senior opposition made the perfect start with a fine finish from Wiktoria Fronc on four minutes before Poppy Binding doubled their advantage just before the half-hour mark.
Fronc added a third just minutes after the restart with a composed finish inside the box and a fourth came on the hour mark through Wiki Kiszkis. We managed to carve out a number of opportunities - Heidi Hills a standout performer for our young side - but lacked that clinical edge in the final third as it was 90 minutes full of learning for Sabiha Jamal’s players.
Into the third game of our pre-season programme, having beaten Birmingham City Under-21s 3-0 in the week, we gave ourselves an uphill battle after just four minutes as a well-struck first-time effort from Fronc found the far top corner to break the deadlock. Cruz Fuller-Fagan saw a low curling effort blocked wide for a corner after a great run down the left as we looked for a response to the early opener but, on 29 minutes, Binding grabbed a second as she drilled low into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Eloise Summers-Mee curled low from the edge of the box but it was routine for the O’s goalkeeper in our final opportunity of the first period as the home side picked up where they left off just two minutes after the restart, Fronc advancing behind our backline before calmly slotting the ball under Erin Radbourne for her second of the contest. Hills saw a curling effort tipped around the post by the shot stopper and, minutes later, her cut-back into the box, after some fantastic footwork on the left, just evaded Fuller-Fagan at the back-post.
Despite a positive first quarter-of-an-hour in the second period, Orient grabbed their fourth of the afternoon as Kiszkis converted from close range. Hills’ effort from distance was handled well by their keeper before Summers-Mee, from the byline on the left, fizzed a strong ball across the face of the goal but, once again, we were unable to force the ball home. Hills fired over the bar from the six-yard area after connecting to Poppy Neill’s low ball into the box while, in the first minute of stoppage time, Mia Endacott’s curling shot from the right was gathered by keeper.