Valiant Harborough Town bow out of FA Cup as clinical Leyton Orient cruise to five-goal victory
Harborough Town are out of the FA Cup after giving it their all in a 5-1 loss away at Leyton Orient in the First Round Proper.
The League One hosts proved too clinical, as goals from Armando Dobra, Aaron Connolly, Idris El Mizouni and Tony Springett condemned the Bees to defeat in east London, bringing an end to a spectacular journey in the world’s oldest cup competition.
But there was still plenty to cheer for the 1,113-strong away end at BetWright Stadium, not least a well-taken goal from impact substitute Paul Malone which made things interesting in the second half.
In what was Harborough’s second-ever venture into the first round, it was a dream away tie for Bees boss Mitch Austin, who was born not far away from Orient. The 38-year-old grew up in the area and he even supported the O’s as his second team.
Eager to suppress the hosts’ threat early doors, Austin deployed a rare Harborough back-five formation, with the versatile Josh Walsh filling in at right-back.
But it took merely six minutes for Orient to open the scoring. A fox in the Leicestershire visitors’ six-yard box, Dobra arrived late to poke home from Fin Stevens’ driven cross.
Former Brighton & Hove Albion forward Connolly then made it 2-0 on 25 minutes, striking first time from a disguised short free-kick to find the bottom right corner.
Harborough had a decent spell towards the end of the first half as they peppered the Orient box with a succession of corners and long throws, however the visitors’ best chances came in the second period.
Left-back Eliot Putman was the first to go close in the 48th minute, forcing a fingertip stop from Nathan Baxter as he unleashed a rocket from 30 yards.
That gave Harborough some brief hope, but that was soon sucked out as Orient made it 3-0 on 50 minutes, captain Idris El Mizouni tapping in from Somto Boniface’s cutback.
At that point, Austin, who had already been chopping and changing with his tactics, threw caution to the wind by switching to a 4-3-3.
Substitutes Silvio Bello, Paul Malone and Dempsey Arlott-John all made a decent impact and the latter registered a shot on target within 15 minutes of entering the field.
Tricky midfielder Callum Powell and new signing Kyle Hudlin were then introduced. Hudlin, a 6ft 9in giant, had a decent effort saved shortly after entering the field.
Harborough’s only goal followed, a superb improvised finish from Malone, who found the left side netting from a Putman corner. The scorer then sadly went off a little while later with a suspected broken leg.
It was Orient who continued to dictate proceedings, and Springett added a fourth on 81 minutes, firing hard and low across goal.
El Mizouni then netted his second of the game deep in stoppage time to make it 5-1, thrashing the ball into the roof of the net from 10 yards out, only moments after Tottenham Hotspur loanee Dane Scarlett struck the post.
Although Orient were deserved victors, 5-1 didn’t tell the whole story. Harborough competed well for the most part, winning their fair share of duels and contesting high up the pitch.
The difference was ultimately Orient’s ruthless quality in the final third, propelling the O’s to the second round and knocking Austin’s brave Bees out.