Sutton show no mercy to new boys

VERDICT: They got rid of the rotten Francesco Becchetti, but the same on-field issues they cannot shift. Leyton Orient were taught a National League lesson by dogged Sutton United

IT never rains but it pours. Leyton Orient were swept away in a first-half monsoon as their summer of sunshine went south for the winter.

In a first 45 minutes to frighten fans, Orient were, for want of a better description, a shower. Like the weather they improved after the break, but defending like drips gave them a start they needed to avoid.

National League starter pack: defend your six-yard box, track your the runners, don’t give away needless fouls and deal with the big centre-halves in both boxes.

Having a shot on goal before the clock hits 73 minutes would also help.

Sizeable first-half failings were on display for Steve Davis’ men, given no space on the ball and afforded little respect, it really was a rude and wet awakening.

But this wasn’t all about Orient misgivings. Sutton United were superb, and will challenge for the play-offs surely.

“I would describe that as a real National League performance,” said manager Paul Doswell. “In fairness to Leyton Orient, their players will buy into what Steve’s doing and we probably caught them on a good day for us.

“I’m over the moon they have got their club back, I really am, but my football club needs the credit today. We had eight players out injured.

“The new signings that came in did magnificently and I think we would have beaten most teams with that performance.”

One thing the East Londoners cannot say is that they don’t boast seasoned players at National League level.

Three of their back four played in this division last season and the other, Josh Coulson, knows the league inside out having won promotion with Cambridge United in 2014.

One of them, former Dagenham full-back Joe Widdowson, is wise enough to know he couldn’t get away with hauling over Craig Dundas in the box like he did and expect to get away with it. Jamie Collins from 12 yards was never going to miss.

Sutton had a double escape minutes after taking the lead. Jamie Butler didn’t get his jump quite right, but O’s striker David Mooney was still penalised. Then, James Dayton hit the deck inside the box under pressure from Aswad Thomas who got foot and not ball. A bad miss from the officials.

When Ross Lafayette crossed deep, Dean Beckwith slipped in unchecked and both central defenders were on the scoresheet with half-time looming.

With around 15 minutes to go, Orient finally mustered a shot on target. Dayton, from 30 yards, didn’t bother Butler. The away fans cheered ironically. They may need more good humour before things get better.

Davis said: “We’ve got to learn from this. I hadn’t seen us make these mistakes in pre-season, but it’s now about how we respond.

“We didn’t make the most of the free-kicks and corners we had. We didn’t have enough craft. I don’t think we were brave enough to try different things.

“We were a bit bullied to be honest and struggled to create anything of note.”