Our glorious leader Barry Hearn said in the match-day programme for the Southend game last week ‘there’s no doubt that this is a great time to be an Orient supporter’, and who could currently argue with the Matchroom master about that at this current time.

Saturday saw a stunning first-half display by East London’s premier football club against league leaders Tranmere, which seemed to be recognised afterwards by O’s punters as the best 45 minutes we’ve witnessed from the team this season.

As always seems to be the case however, we can never kill sides off when we are on top and you know with the Orient no matter how well we are playing, there is about as much chance of seeing us win by three or four as there is of seeing Russell Slade at the local barbers.

We did our best to aid the visitors by missing a penalty (as I’m sure you all know our first failure from the spot at the south end since Adam Boyd against MK Dons in 2008, excluding penalty shoot-outs) and despite a cracking second after the break we still allowed the Rovers to score to give us a nervous period before the end of the game.

Forty-six years of following the club make you come to expect the inevitable equaliser before the final whistle’s blown, yet this time miraculously it didn’t happen and we were able to enjoy post-match refreshment with the club languishing in a season’s best tenth place in the third division.

We’re sitting comfortably just eight points from the play-off places, yet for O’s veterans like myself we’re inevitably spending more time looking down at the 16 points we currently stand clear of the bottom four.

Unfortunately some of us have memories long enough to remember the spectacular end-of-season collapses of the early nineties. Having beaten the top team in the league last Saturday, this week we play the bottom side Hartlepool.

It would of course be typical Leyton Orient to go up to the north east and get beaten. And then we’ve got next Wednesday. Can the O’s really turn things round in the ‘jellied eels derby’ and book a place in the JPT final?

Pundits are calling it the most important ‘el East London/East Essex classico’ ever, with I’m sure millions all round the country set to be glued to their televisions to catch a glimpse of the action from Roots Hall.

I for one am confident that even without Kevin Lisbie, Charlie MacDonald and of course Michael Symes, we can turn it round in the second leg and that come the end of March I’ll be able to part with a £20 note in the club shop for the inevitable ‘Wembley 2013’ scarf and t-shirt.

Who knows, maybe we’ll be able to use them again come May for the play-off final?

And as if there isn't enough excitment on the pitch at the moment for Orient supporters to chew over, the club have just produced their first ever sticker album, now on sale at just £2 in the club shop.

It’s a shame it’s probably come a little too late for me – I’m a bit to old to start swapping Kevin Nugent with Terry Mancini, but never mind, I’m sure members of Theo’s Gang will love it. Yes, Barry these are indeed great times to be an Orient supporter.

Up the O’s.