BOWYER’S BOYS ARE BUILDING
BLACKPOOL boss Gary Bowyer claims resilience won the day as his side stretched their unbeaten league run to four games, condemning Leyton Orient to an eighth home defeat of the season.
Jamille Matt opened the scoring with a terrific strike into the top left-hand corner before Tom Aldred’s glancing header doubled the lead just before the hour mark.
Paul McCallum grabbed a late consolation on what was otherwise another frustrating afternoon on their own patch for the O’s, with choruses of boos reigning down from the stands throughout.
A 3-0 victory over Stevenage back in August remains Orient’s only home points of what is proving to be a desperate campaign for all those involved.
For Blackpool it was a further step in the right direction under manager Bowyer, who is slowly beginning to build momentum at a club who were only relegated from the Premier League five years ago.
“What we all saw was an incredible desire and determination from the team to see this one through,” Bowyer said.
“We haven’t won too many on the road this season, that’s for sure.
“It was a composed, controlled performance, their keeper made some great saves and when they score late on, you know they will rally but we held them off.”
In truth, Blackpool would have been cursing themselves had they allowed Orient to steal a point late on.
The Seasiders enjoyed dominant spells in possession but were guilty of spurning good chances to put the game out of reach.
“I thought we hadn’t played or passed as well as we can so I challenged the players at half-time to do that,” Bowyer added.
“Maybe we needed some more composure as we had some good half-chances but didn’t take them.
“Our shape, our organisation and work-rate were terrific and that is down to the work everyone is putting in on the training ground.”
Despite an eighth home league defeat in nine games, O’s boss Alberto Cavasin was keen to look at the positive aspects from his side’s display.
McCallum’s header a minute from time was in vain as the Londoners struggle at the bottom. “This time we’ve produced a different performance to others,” Cavasin said. “We were more competitive, even after we conceded the first goal the team didn’t get down “Even through these difficult moments, it’s important to look at the positives because at this very moment the mood of the players is very important. “The players are present on pitch, not nervous. “They are acting positively. The team tries to stay united as a group and try to play even when we concede the first goal.”