DOVER THE MOON!
Bird’s the word as Whites smash Pools At last! O’s bag first win in three months
AFTER over three months without a National League win, Leyton Orient ended their barren run in style with a comprehensive victory over Sutton United.
The U’s were top before the start of play while Justin Edinburgh’s O’s were looking to end a 15-game run without a victory.
But it was Orient who played like league leaders with a battling performance full of heart and determination.
Macauley Bonne struck a brace in between a Matt Harrold header and although Tommy Wright pulled one back for Sutton, James Dayton ensured the east Londoners had the final say on proceedings at Brisbane Road.
“Did I enjoy it? Very much so,” said Edinburgh. “Everyone connected to the club has been waiting a long time and to beat the league leaders by that scoreline was the perfect way to cap off my first home game.
“It is not going to happen overnight because you’ve got to work hard, but we’ve had a great week on the training ground and it was a chance for me to continue to implement my ideas, my thoughts and what I’m looking for from the team. The performance mirrored what I’m about and the two central midfielders Craig Clay and Alex Lawless were excellent. They never lost a second ball, let alone a first one and it gave us impetus and a tone to go on and win.”
Lawless, in particular, was outstanding, as were most of his team-mates with Bonne scoring after seven minutes from the penalty spot after Simon Downer had bundled over Dayton. Orient had to wait until the 53rd minute to extend their advantage with Harrold heading in Jobi McAnuff ’s free-kick. It was 3-0 when Bonne beat Jamie Butler from 10 yards after David Mooney had hit the post before Wright drilled past home goalkeeper Dean Brill. Dayton ensured it was the O’s who had the last laugh, however, with a deflected strike from outside the area to give Orient a first league win since September 2. Sutton boss Paul Doswell was very honest afterwards, having seen his side drop to second. “It was two soft goals,” he summed up. “I thought the first one was stupid on our part because it was a soft penalty. “We then had the best of the next 25 minutes and created three or four very good chances and at that point you need to get back in the game. It was corner after corner after corner, but the second goal was the killer. We gave away a soft free-kick, we didn’t defend the cross and Harrold has a free header, which is not sensible on our part and, at 2-0, the game is almost done and dusted.
“Give credit to Orient. Justin has come in and had an impact in his first home game and I think that was to be expected.
“The only thing that is disappointing from our perspective is we knew the Orient players would be better, but we weren’t able to match them.”
Edinburgh concluded: “Wins are precious and it’s a fantastic one, but it has got to be one of many as we go forward.”
The O’s new head coach is spot on, but more performances like this and they’ll surely start to move up the table again soon.