LEYTON Orient's FA Cup dream died amid a chorus of boo's and jeers at Brisbane Road , this week.
A sizeable portion of O's fans who witnessed Tranmere Rovers dump Orient out of the competition in the first round made their feelings loud and clear at the final whistle, on Tuesday night.
Now some of them will be wondering whether they can face watching this fixture all over again when the Terriers return for a crunch bottom of the table league clash, this Saturday.
Amid reports of scuffles outside the ground afterwards, players and boss Geraint Williams accepted the ire which rolled off the stands after a toothless display.
Reflecting on the fury Ash Taylor's 83rd minute winner sparked, Williams said: “I don't blame them. Nobody's happy. I'm not happy when we're losing games and neither are the players, the staff or the chairman.
“Nobody's happy, and certainly not the people who are paying their money.”
Striker Ryan Jarvis echoed his manager's words.
“They've got every right to (boo).
“If we're not picking up results they're going to start booing. The only way to put it right is with results on the pitch. At the moment, I'd rather win ugly and than play good football.
“We've got to make sure we get three points on Saturday. They're down near the bottom with us and it's a massive game.”
Sean Thornton had the last touch when Orient put the ball in the net close to full-time, but it was ruled out for a foul on Rovers keeper Luke Daniels by referee Andy Woolmer.
“We're just not taking our chances” Thornton said. “It was an easy goal we let in, and we just really can't afford to do that.
“Fans pay their money to come and they expect better results. We're all down now and we've got to pick each other up.”
That is right, because Tranmere will feel they have Orient worked out when they arrive back at Brisbane Road this Saturday.
The Mersysiders sat back while the hosts dominated whole swathes of the game, to no effect at all.
The visitors sealed the win after Jason Demetriou had conceded a foul which his boss later rapped as petulant, and Taylor capitalised on sloppy defending from the free kick to score at the near post past Glenn Morris.
“They set out to frustrate us and the crowd, and they did” said Williams.
“We didn't have enough to break them down and create clear cut chances. That was disappointing.
“You have to give Tranmere credit for being resolute. They came here and said 'we're going to sit here, see what happens and you're going to have to break us down.' On the night we couldn't do it.”
“If they come and do the same thing on Saturday we'll have to find a way.”
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