The League One Play-Offs get underway this weekend with County potentially just three games away from securing a return to the Championship, as we travel to Leyton Orient for the first leg of our semi-final.
County secured a highest finish in the third tier of English football since 1996/97 last weekend with a 3-1 win at fellow play-off semi-finalists Wycombe Wanderers. Despite falling behind in the first half, goals from Beno Andrésson, Ollie Norwood and Will Collar saw the Hatters once again come from behind to secure three points at Adams Park.
We ended the campaign five points shy of the automatic promotion places with 87 points, a new club-record points tally for the third tier, after winning seven of our final eight games and losing just two of our final 21 league fixtures.
Form goes out of the window now though as we enter the mini-competition of the play-offs, facing a two-legged tie against a Leyton Orient side who ended the campaign in sixth place.
Richie Wellens’ side won their final six games of the season to clinch the final play-off spot on the final day of the campaign, finishing three points clear of Reading following a 4-1 win at Huddersfield Town. The Os are bidding to reach the second tier for the first time since 1982, just two years on from winning the League Two title.
Since we last met:
That Leyton Orient have even reached the play-offs is an achievement in itself, given that Richie Wellens’ side found themselves in the relegation zone as late as December, after winning only four of their opening 16 league games.
By the time County travelled to Brisbane Lane at the beginning of February though, The Os were occupying a place in the top six, after a dramatic turnaround in their fortunes through the winter months. The East Londoners had embarked on an 11-game unbeaten run in League One that consisted of nine wins, and went into the game against Dave Challinor’s side fresh from hammering Exeter City 6-2 away from home.
Another victory against County would have seen them leapfrog the Hatters in the league table, but instead a Kyle Wootton goal in the first half was enough to bring that unbeaten sequence to a grinding halt, with a superb defensive display in the second half earning us a 1-0 win.
The Os responded impressively to that defeat with a run of three straight victories, including becoming just the second side this season to win away at Wrexham – beating Phil Parkinson’s side 2-1 at the Racecourse to maintain their place in the top six. They also forced FA Cup finalists Manchester City all the way in a thrilling Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round tie, taking the lead against Pep Guardiola’s side before eventually losing 2-1.
A play-off finish looked in serious doubt by mid-March though, after a run of five straight league defeats and just two wins in nine – results that saw them drift down to 9th, six points off the top-six with six games of the season remaining.
Wellens’ side will have known there was little margin for error from that point onward, but their record over the final six was flawless. Victories at Mansfield Town and Crawley Town gave them hope, before an extraordinary comeback saw them come from 3-1 down to beat Barnsley 4-3 at Brisbane Road – a result that put them back in the top six, helped by a late-season collapse from Bolton Wanderers.
The Os had trailed in all three of those games before coming back to win, and they did so once again in their next game at struggling Cambridge United. With Reading snapping at their heels just below them, there was no let-up in the hunt for 6th place, but a hard-fought 1-0 win against promotion-chasing Wycombe Wanderers put them in the driving spot heading into the final day – sitting above The Royals on goal difference.
A double from former Crewe forward Dan Agyei helped them tear Huddersfield Town apart 4-1 on the final day, securing that final play-off spot and with it a highest league finish since ending the 2013/14 season in 3rd under Russel Slade, going on to lose the play-off final to Rotherham United on penalties.
Having achieved so much in his time at the Club, winning the League Two title just two years ago, Wellens will now prepare for the first play-off campaign of his managerial career – and much like County, his side will be heading into Saturday’s game with form and momentum behind them, looking to cap an unforgettable season with glory at Wembley.
Match Stats:
- Saturday will be the 67th competitive meeting between the two sides, who first met in December 1905. County have won 21 of those previous encounters, with Orient winning 28 of them.
- Six of the last eight meetings between these two sides have been won by the away side, including each of the last four.
- This will be County’s seventh play-off campaign in the Football League, and our first in the third tier since 1994. Of those six previous occasions, County have progressed to the final four times.
- Over the last 20 games in League One, only Champions Birmingham City picked up more than County’s 46.
- County have conceded the first goal in each of our last five games, but have come back to pick up 13 points during that run.
