RAPID START LIFTS ORIENT
Bonne and Alabi combine to stun Magpies
FIRST-HALF goals from Macauley Bonne and James Alabi saw Leyton Orient seal the points and inflict a second straight home defeat on the Magpies at York Road.
Bonne did terrifically well to direct home his tenth goal of the season with a powerful header from Jobi McAnuff’s right-wing cross in the 11th minute.
Alabi — who’d earlier brushed the post with a low shot – then all but settled the contest in the 27th minute when he cut inside Chinua Cole’s challenge and swept the ball past Carl Pentney.
O’s boss Justin Edinburgh reflected: “It was an unknown for us this season to be defeated but that was the reaction we all wanted in terms of the result. There were limited amount of chances.
“Both teams cancelled each other out with the same formation so it was difficult to play free-flowing football but when the chances came along, James Alabi and Macauley Bonne dispatched them really well.”
Magpies boss Alan Devonshire added: “We lacked quality today. I thought the two goals were poor.
“Second half we were better, but we’re still not getting the penalties. I don’t know what we’ve got to do to get one. Listen we’re disappointed but we go again against Boreham Wood next week. That’s all we can do.
“We needed a bit of luck today. We’ve had bits and pieces where we couldn’t score, but it wasn’t our day.”
Maidenhead were much improved from their 3-0 defeat to Salford last weekend but, when chances came their way, they lacked the quality to take advantage of them. They should have levelled matters in the 18th minute, when the returning Ryan Bird was presented with a gilt-edged opportunity to score, but Marvin Ekpiteta made a fabulous recovering challenge. He then thwarted James Akintunde’s diving header with a clearance off the goalline.
Max Worsfold curled harmlessly wide after another spell of possession and pressure from the hosts while on the stroke of half-time O’s keeper Dean Brill stretched to tip Josh Kelly’s curling strike over the crossbar. Devonshire will have been disappointed to see his side trail by two goals at the interval. But they took the game to Orient after the break. After McAnuff had very nearly caught Pentney out with a lob, the Magpies came within a whisker of finding the target when Akintunde swept Worsfold’s low cross just wide of Brill’s post in the 51st minute.
Bird appeared to be brought down by Brill in the box minutes later, but the Magpies’ appeals again fell on deaf ears.
Substitute Jordan Archer fired over after combining well with Herson Alves in the 81st minute, and Alves then stung the palms of Brill with a rifled volley, but the Orient defence held firm. The visitors might have extended their advantage on 85 minutes, when Bonne slipped in James Brophy down the left but Pentney raced out to make the save. There was still time for Brill to keep out Remy Clerima’s point blank header at which point the Magpies must have known it wouldn’t be their day. STAR MAN: Jobi McAnuff (Leyton Orient) ATT: 2,016 ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★ REFEREE: Declan Bourne 6/10