Former Man United academy star Ethan Galbraith sends Leyton Orient to playoff final | OneFootball

Former Manchester United academy product Ethan Galbraith scored the winning penalty in Leyton Orient’s playoff success against Stockport County in League One.

The Glengormley native joined the United academy in 2017 from Belfast side Linfield.

He made his way through the various Carrington youth sides but would only play one senior match for the first team.

This came in an away trip to FC Astana in Kazakhstan in the Europa League in 2019. He eventually left the club in 2023 after loan spells at Doncaster Rovers and Salford City.

Galbraith joined Leyton Orient later in the summer and he has not looked back, playing 95 games for the O’s across the last two seasons.

His biggest contribution of the season came on Wednesday night however, as he fired in the winning penalty to send Leyton Orient to the playoff final at Wembley. Here they will face Charlton Athletic for a place in the Championship.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw and went to a penalty shootout. Galbraith stood up tall in front of the Stockport fans and buried the deciding penalty into the side netting to send his own supporters into raptures.

He also played an integral role in his side’s opening goal with a perfectly played ball behind the Stockport defence that set Ollie O’Neill up perfectly to fire in after just three minutes.

The Northern Ireland international has been impressive all year for the League One side, playing a mammoth 50 games.

He has scored six goals and provided eight assists this season. What’s more, he has played a variety of roles such as right back and attacking midfielder, showing his football intelligence honed at Carrington.

Galbraith’s fine form has also seen him win back his place in the Northern Ireland senior team. He played a key role in the country’s highly credible 1-1 draw with Switzerland back in March.

He will be hoping to put in one more memorable performance on Sunday 25th May when Orient attempt to reach the Championship at Wembley.

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