O’s show difference a year can make

A YEAR ago, Leyton Orient were sitting one place off the bottom of League One, having lost three on the bounce.

One season on and they now sit atop the same table with four wins out of four, following a comprehensive defeat of Crewe Alexandra.

Orient proved too much for their opponents and ultimately wrapped up the win inside the first half, thanks to Moses Odubajo’s strike and a David Mooney penalty.

And with his side on a roll, Russell Slade admitted his job now was just to keep the momentum going.

“There’s a real buzz around the squad at the moment, they all get on with each other,” he said.

“We’ve got a fantastic spirit which has developed and it’s gone to a different level.We need to keep this going.

“It was a great performance in the first half, they didn’t seem able to cope with us defensively and we seemed to carve a lot of openings.

“But we kept control of the game, kept going, pushing on, and got the second one. Opportunities came all half, and 2-0 was more than a fair result at half-time.”

Orient got off to a flying start as Dean Cox picked out the run of Odubajo who slotted through the legs of Alan Martin.

Former Charlton striker Kevin Lisbie had the perfect chance to make it two on 30 minutes but sent his penalty wide, after Chuks Aneke had brought down Nathan Clarke.

However, the O’s only had to wait seven minutes for another penalty. This time Mooney converted into the corner after being fouled by George Ray.

Crewe started to show some intent after the break as Ryan Colclough brought out a save from Jamie Jones, following a Scott Cuthbert mistake.

They continued to attack as the match went on, with Aneke hitting the bar, but ultimately struggled to break Orient down.

The rain was pouring down throughout the game on a day of foul weather in the capital that saw Championship side Charlton’s match abandoned, and Crewe manager Steve Davis felt it had a negative effect on his side’s performance.

“It didn’t suit us at all to be honest, we couldn’t pass the ball how we wanted to,” he said.

“It suited them as they have a more direct approach.We tried to go more direct, but we don’t do that and can’t do that – we’re not very good at it. But we tried to go direct in the second half and I think we had about four good shots in the opening exchanges.

“We started well in the second half but the damage was more or less done in the first half.”