Payne’s gain lifts up the lucky O’s

MORECAMBE boss Jim Bentley was left bemoaning his side’s luck after they narrowly lost the first-ever meeting between the Shrimps and Leyton Orient.

A freak goal from Orient midfielder Jack Payne settled a drab encounter with Bentley disappointed to see Morecambe’s run of four successive wins come to an end.

“It was one of those days and we’ve had a little bit of bad luck with the goal,” said Bentley.

“There wasn’t much between us and I thought we had the better chances in the first half and we had some great chances in the second half too but overall it went flat and stale.

“We had a good go but we just didn’t get that little bit of luck.

“We’ve come away getting beaten in a game that we probably didn’t do enough to win but certainly didn’t deserve to lose.”

The home side enjoyed the majority of possession in a tight first half and it was against the run of play when it was the visitors who took the lead in the most bizarre of circumstances.

Payne overran the ball on the edge of the area but as defender Ryan Edwards punted it forward, the midfielder slid in to block the clearance which cannoned off his shin and flew into the net.

Earlier Jamie Devitt had gone close with a header from Tom Barkhuizen’s cross and the hosts also had a good penalty shout turned down after Mathieu Baudry brought down Paul Mullin inside the penalty area.

The second half repeated the pattern of the first with Morecambe enjoying plenty of the ball but it was the Londoners who could have doubled their lead five minutes after the break when Ollie Palmer went very close with his effort.

Morecambe continued to threaten little until Barkhuizen’s last-minute shot was well saved by Alex Cisak.

A penalty shout late on was turned down for handball, only adding to the hosts’ frustration.

Orient manager Ian Hendon was delighted with his side’s performance.

“The clean sheets have been elusive of late and that performance was just what I had been asking for,” he said.

“We got a bit of luck but I’m delighted with the result.

“We said at half time that the goal was the little bit of luck we needed and credit to the players, they dug in and battled and we got the result.

“We’ve had some tough games and it was a relief to get that win.

“We perform well at home so it was nice to come all this way and keep a clean sheet.

“1-0 is a great scoreline, especially away from home.”