PREVIEW: Orient

United's longest remaining away trip is to East London on Saturday, with over 400 Blues expected at the Breyer Group Stadium.

It took a while for Orient to get going during the January transfer window, but a flurry of activity started from the middle of the month.

Right-back Dan Moss came in from Millwall on a half-season loan, and midfielder Otis Khan penned an 18-month deal as he came in from Walsall.

Two more midfielder came in with just a week left to go - Jordan Brown from Derby and Ethan Coleman from King's Lynn.

Closing off the inward movement were loan agreements with Exeter City for defender George Ray and Colchester United for experienced striker Frank Nouble.

It's been a really tough spell for the O's with no league victory since the beginning of December.

Since then they have suffered seven defeats and picked up two points, with goals also hard to come by (just the one netted since the turn of the year).

This has seen them tumble down the table following what was a promising spell, and they went into the Tuesday night home game against Bristol Rovers looking for a return to winning ways.

That didn't go to plan, with two goals in a devastating three-minute first-half spell meaning that the Pirates sailed away with the plunder.

Kenny Jackett left the club after the whistle had blown, so the managerial situation has taken an interim format. 

Aaron Drinan has been a shining light with 13 goals and five assists from 29 appearances. 

He's a mobile forward with an eye for the target, and at one point through October and November and he had netted nine goals from eight outings.

Partnered by Frank Nouble or Harry Smith, he works well off the big target man and causes problems for any defence.

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The sides have met a total of 58 times over the years, with a very even spread of results to show for it.

Carlisle hosted Orient in August 2021 and they took the lead courtesy of an early Tristan Abrahams penalty. Harry Smith levelled with just over 15 minutes to go, and it ended at 1-1 with a share of the spoils.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

It was a game packed with incident in May 2021 as Orient went ahead through Conor Wilkinson at the Breyer Group Stadium with three minutes on the clock. Jon Mellish pulled it level just before the break, but the O's were back in front almost straight away as Dan Kemp netted. Magnus Norman saved a penalty, and it became United's day as Lewis Alessandra bagged from the spot. That paved the way for George Tanner to snatch a late, late winner in time added on.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

The March 2021 meeting of these sides was actually at the fourth time of asking with the previous fixture dates having fallen foul of cold weather (twice) and a covid outbreak. It appeared to be heading towards a 0-0 draw until Conor Wilkinson snatched a late, late winner for the visitors.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

October 2019 took the Blues to East London where a clean strike from Jack Iredale just after the break cancelled out an early Josh Wright penalty.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

These teams came together in February 2017, also at the home of the O's. Gavin Massey gave the hosts the lead but strikes from Gary Liddle and Jamie Proctor earned the visitors a creditable 2-1 victory. The afternoon took a bad turn for Proctor, though, when he was sent off just eight minutes after bagging the winner.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

The sides met earlier that season at Brunton Park where they played out a 2-2 draw. The Blues had to come from behind twice as Paul McCallum and Harry Cornick netted for the Orient. Charlie Wyke got United's first, with Danny Grainger caliming the point from the penalty spot late in the game.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

Referee - Carl Boyeson
Assistant Referee 1 - Robert Dabbs
Assistant Referee 2 - Adrian Tranter
Fourth Official - Greg Read
Observer - Robert Desmond

Our referee for this game is Mr Carl Boyeson. He has been the man in the middle for 18 games so far this season showing 68 yellow cards and two reds.

He was in charge for the home game against Oldham in February 2021 when a Josh Kayode opener was cancelled out and overtaken by three away goals. George Tanner and Nick Anderton were shown yellows on the day.

He was at Boundary Park in September 2020 for the Carabao Cup game where Nick Anderton, Aaron Hayden and Rod McDonald all went in the book.

A regular for Carlisle United fixtures, we saw him just once in 2019/20. That was for the August 2019 visit of Mansfield when Danny Rose and Nicky Maynard put the visitors two goals to the good before the break. That was how the game ended, but it was a day for cards as three of the away side were joined by Byron Webster for United with yellows to their name.

Season 2018/19 put him in charge of our games on three different occasions. He was the man in the middle for our 3-0 away defeat at Stevenage in April - a day which also saw Gary Miller and Tom Parkes go in the book.

Prior to that he was our match referee in January when he took charge of the home game against Cheltenham. Early second half goals from Jamie Devitt and Hallam Hope bagged us the victory, and there were no United names taken on the day.

Also, in November 2018, he officiated for our home game against Forest Green in November. Ben Morris and Carl Winchester had given the visitors a two-goal cushion, but a late Jamie Devitt penalty turned out to be nothing more than a consolation as Rovers claimed their victory. Anthony Gerrard was the only Carlisle name to be logged.

Think back a little further and he was in charge of a game that turned into a thriller for all the wrong reasons when we made the trip to face Wycombe in February 2018. A horrible first half saw the Blues go two goals behind as Matt Bloomfield and Luke O'Nien bagged quickfire goals either side of the half hour mark.

The tide changed at the start of the second half when O'Nien was sent off, and a penalty from Danny Grainger brought United right back into the game. Jamie Devitt and Cole Stockton turned it well and truly on its head, and the visitors appeared to have secured the three points as the clock ticked in to time added on.

That was when the world fell apart for the Cumbrians as Marcus Bean and Paris Cowan-Hall pounced within seconds of each other to leave the away side pondering what might have been.