32 mins. Andy Griffin made a strong run down the United right and centred into the box, where Kevin Gallacher was on hand to knock the ball home from 12 yards, atoning for an earlier glaring miss.1-0
45 mins. Garcia played an infield ball from the right flank into the path of Steve Watts, who turned a shot past the advancing Shay Given and into the far corner of the goal. 1-1

Halftime: LOFC 1 NUFC 1

Full time: LOFC 1 NUFC 1

So Barry Hearn wanted to intimidate us Geordies with his bangers and mash and lager then? Big city slickers Newcastle were coming down to little ol' London, so to catch us off-guard Barry wanted to get out the cork matting rather than the red carpet. Ingenious. Barry didn't get where he is today by not being able to pull the wool over flash Northerners eyes then....

Bangers and mash? Well, it hasn't quite made it onto the Burger King specials board at Kings Cross, but it would be hard to blame Barry for that. (Needless to say I'll SuperSize mine when it does). But the alehouse we frequented only served freshly cut sandwiches, freshly cut between 1-3pm but presumably prepared some days earlier....

On arriving at the ground it seemed that Hearn had definitely got the lager out, though. There they were; cans of something with at least 50% extra free, judging by their size, slap bang in the centre circle, presented appealingly on several bits of cardboard. A knees-up Mother Brown/Pearly King way of serving up the amber brew? Well, no actually, the cans concealed something much more menacing and Two Smoking Barrels-ish: beautiful fountains of pretty sparklies. The Krays will be turning in their graves (shortly)....

The noise? Well it was there at times from the four-figured crowd (probably more din than at St. James') but unless the locals were practicing the sort of intimidating menace that is in fact inaudible, then I'm afraid Barry's Noise came from the 4,000 black and whites housed in the West Stand. The usual odd mix of exiles, converts and die-hards that London-games always throw up. And a healthy smattering of lassies and bairns for those keen to see football become a family game.

It was good to reflect back this morning on a game that was observed exclusively in the upright position. It's been a while since that happened and yet I only realised today that we had never sat down. There were "seats" but could it be that unknowingly we were actually adopting the natural pose for watching football? An instinct soon to be lost as football fan's evolution embraces the sitting position. Should seats eventually recline and we end up watching our teams from a supine position then obviously a healthy smattering of lassies could take on an added importance....

Enough. The football.

League cup, pokey ground and past history can bring about some nasty turns and the drink-induced confident swaggers didn't really hide the trepidation of becoming fall guys again. An early goal was what we wanted and Bobby's team selection showed that we were going for it all guns blazing. Perhaps Nobby was the only player missing from our strongest eleven but this is a matter for debate. 

Straight from the off we meant business and when the ball fell kindly to Rob Lee in the first minute he let fly with an absolute net-burster. Unfortunately Bayes' left hand intercepted it and pushed it onto the post from where it bounced across the goal until it was hoofed skyward. Shearer had a free-kick charged down but lashed it goalwards again from the rebound. The keeper parried but Kevin Gallacher rushed in to miss the unmissable chance and sent it high and wide from six yards (Bobby said three but I was nearer, I'm younger and have optical assistance).

At that point the game changed. The script for the confidence-boosting six goal spree had been shunned and Leyton Orient sensed it. I don't think anyone really expected a giant-killing but they were certainly keen to give us some nasty bites around the ankles. We maintained the bulk of the possession and at times we pinged it around quite smartly on the damp surface but our cutting edge has been severely blunted by recent results. While Cort, Dyer, Shearer and Speed flattered to deceive, young Andy Griffin drove down the right and put in a low and accurate cross, Speed connected, the keeper saved but this time Gallacher hit the unguarded target to settle the tie.

Chances to increase the lead came at regular intervals but Cort suddenly pulled up as he attempted to shield the ball by the byline. He was stretching at the time but certainly not straining and a pull at that point seemed surprising. Cordone came on and almost immediately should have scored as he surged into the box. As he shaped to shoot from a good position he inexplicably crossed it to no-one. An inflexible interpretation of Bobby's new drive to feed Shearer seems the only logical explanation. Either that or it really is Ketsbaia with a wig.

In injury time Orient foraged down the right and a good low cross was turned in adroitly by Steve Watts to level on the night and warm the home fans for the second half.

A similar pattern emerged, we started full of fire again but as chances weren't converted then the industry waned and the inevitable conclusion of the tie came ever closer. To be honest without playing particularly well, we could have scored four or five in the second half, Cordone missing twice, Dyer missing twice and Shearer being denied by more fine goalkeeping from Bayes. Solano replaced Gallacher, although Dyer seemed certain to be replaced after taking a heavy knock as he bore down on the O's goal. Diego Gavilan remained seated and Steve Caldwell still awaits his first team debut.

Perhaps the highlight of the second half was the Lazarus like rise of one of United's old-guard. No, not Rob Lee, but young Stevie Charlton* who had been wheeled out of the ground in the first half looking decidedly dodgy. Midway through the second period who do we see striding down the touchline taking up his place on the terraces? None other than the boy Charlton who you half expected to remove his cap and coat and take up position as wing-wizard down the right. Ferguson, Marcelino, Cort etc take note....

At the final whistle O's captain, Smith baggsied Shearer's shirt and some of the others made a bee-line to other household names. And so it ended, happy faces all round as we took our place in the next round draw and the O's got a result to make Tommy Taylor proud. Your correspondents waltzed past the queues at the tube station and onto a waiting train and even made earlier connections than planned. Even the guard seemed happy to let me off with the wrong ticket for the earlier train. Everybody loves cheeky Northerners.....

However, nagging doubts lingered all the way home about this current side of ours. It wasn't just poor finishing and outstanding goalkeeping that stopped us winning comfortably. There's something else holding back this team - a team that is not without potential. I have no idea what it is and worryingly I don't think Bobby has either, maybe no-one can understand what went so right in August and so wrong in September. Hopefully, we'll get a rare Maine Road victory and forget all about it. The fear is, that hope is never enough....

*Stevie Charlton is the old fella that was often pictured with Kevin Keegan in the 90s and who made it onto the balcony during our post-promotion parade. Imagine a walking corpse and you get the picture...   

Biffa / Niall