» Azaz header clinches Orient away win,
MICHAEL Duff did not demonstrate the demeanour you may expect from a manager that had just watched his team register a relatively comfortable 2-0 away victory.
It was Cheltenham Town’s seventh success in their last eight on the road in all competitions and they’ve kept clean sheets in each of those victories.
In fact, they have not conceded on the road in League Two since going down 1-0 at Scunthorpe United on February 8. But Duff wants more.
“I thought it was a weird game and flat from the start,” he said.
“We were excellent for 20 minutes, scored two goals and then came off it.
“So there is positive,, but we have to be better than that. I am frustrated because it’s repeated itself a couple of times, going ahead and coming off it.
“We need to be more ruthless with the chances we created. Credit is it’s another clean sheet and there were a couple of good blocks, which looks a little bit more like what we do.
“It was a strange feel and you are delighted to win a game, but I felt we have another two or three gears to go.
It is difficult not to feel a degree of sympathy for Orient, who were unable to train together until the morning of the game after a period of self-isolation following positive coronavirus tests in the camp, also missing out on a chance to face Spurs in the Carabao Cup.
But Cheltenham had a job to do and they did it extremely well from the first whistle, dominating the early proceedings and scoring twice within the first half an hour.
The came at the end of a move started by Finn Azaz, who had another bright game in his attacking central midfield role.
He fed Chris Hussey on the left and the wing-back’s delivery was nodded down by Andy Williams, falling to George Lloyd inside the six yard box.
It looked impossible to miss, but the ball initially became stuck until Lloyd’s boot before he was able to readjust quickly and force it over the line under pressure from right-back Sam Ling.
Replays appeared to show it was Lloyd who made the decisive touch - but the Dubious Goals Panel has officially ruled it as a Ling own goal.
But Duff said: “You can’t have 20 minutes like that and games ebb and flow, I get that.
“You can’t be dominant for 90 minutes, but you can’t switch off for 10 minutes and never get going again in the whole second half.
“It’s difficult because it’s 2-0 and subconsciously players may come off it, but we are asking them have more of a ruthless streak, a little more clinical and I don’t mean just finishing, I mean the way we move it.
“Don’t become sloppy and slow. We looked like scoring every time we went forward in that 20 minute spell.
I thought there was a stone wall penalty at 2-0.
“Will Boyle has clearly been pushed in the back and 3-0 probably kills the game off and they could enjoy it a little bit more, but 2-0 is that precarious oldfashioned one, as we well know.
“You go into self caution, but in all three league games we’ve had spells where we’ve been totally dominant.
“The Morecambe game hopefully won’t happen again because we switched off because we thought it was too easy.”
Cheltenham’s second goal came from a fine cross by centre-back Will Boyle.
He was one of the main reasons Cheltenham did not concede in the second half, but he has shown he can contribute at the other end of the pitch and not just with his head from set pieces.
His ball was perfectly measured for West Brom prospect Azaz, who headed into the bottom right corner to register the first Football League goal of his career and his second strike for loan
club Cheltenham.
Duff was then disappointed with the way Cheltenham “looked after the ball”, believing they should have made more of their early superiority to make absolutely sure of the points.
As they had at Prenton Park a fortnight earlier, the match was won in the first half and then successfully seen out in the second.
Orient applied some pressure, but Josh Griffiths did not find himself overworked in the Cheltenham goal.
That was largely thanks to Boyle and his two defensive colleagues Ben Tozer and Charlie Raglan, who were the only three to survive from the team that started at Orient last term.
But the whole team worked as a unit for their latest successful shut out, with a clear structure and organisation on show, even when the passing was not as slick as Duff demands.
This sort of grit and determination is what they must continue to combine with the attractive football they are capable of producing if they are to mount another promotion push.
Duff is approaching his 100th match at the helm and the transformation under him from a team seemingly happy to survive in the Football League to one that looks fully capable of climbing to League One, albeit at a very early stage of a season like no other, has been remarkable.
Leyton Orient: L Vigouroux; S Ling, J Coulson, J Widdowson, J Brophy; J Wright J (Maguiredrew 68), O Cisse, J Mcanuff; C Wilkinson (L Angol 68), D Johnson, L Dennis (R Sotiriou 68). Subs not used: S Sargeant, D Happe, C Clay, J Dayton.
Cheltenham Town: J Griffiths; C Raglan (E Bonds 80), B Tozer, W Boyle; M Blair, C Thomas, L Sercombe, F Azaz (C Clements 63), C Hussey; A Williams, G Lloyd (A May 58). Subs not used: M Harris, R Reid, L Freestone, T Sang. Referee: Peter Wright.
Star Man: Chris Hussey.