Boss Clarke frustrated by unreliable Robins...

DARRELL Clarke admitted it had been a frustrating afternoon for his Cheltenham Town side as they suffered defeat at Leyton Orient to leave them two points from safety in the League One relegation zone.

Ethan Galbraith and Ollie O’Neill left the visitors chasing the game with firsthalf goals before O’s leading striker Ruel Sotiriou ended his nine-match barren run with a superb strike late on.

Substitute Joe Nuttall reduced the deficit with a goal in the final minute of added time but Clarke was left to ponder the uphill struggle ahead of him.

“We started the game quite well, particularly the first 20 minutes, but then we conceded two goals from outside the box,” Clarke said. “I was frustrated at half time and looking for solutions to the problems we had in the first because the game is not over at two-nil.

“I think if we had taken our chances and got that next goal, we would have kicked on. It’s all ifs, buts and maybes and now we have to go again.”

A dull opening period was lifted after 34 minutes by a superb Galbraith strike. Collecting a pass from George Moncur, he drilled a 25-yard drive past the despairing keeper, Luke Southwood.

The visitors, who showed little going forward before the interval and failed to record a shot on target in the first-half, fell further behind ten minutes later. O’Neill, a constant threat to the Robins, cut inside from the left and delivered a sublime shot that curled into the far corner.

Finding more purpose after the interval, Cheltenham soon squandered a marvellous opportunity to reduce the deficit when

O’s shot-stopper Sol Brynn dropped a set-piece at the feet of Curtis Davies who managed to screw the ball wide from four yards.

Sotiriou completed the visitors miserable afternoon in the 85th minute, pouncing from 18 yards to notch his 11th league goal of the season before Nuttall bagged a late consolation for the Robins.

O’s boss Richie Wellens saw his side collect maximum points at home for the first time in four matches.

“We missed the easier chances today with a couple of one-on-ones and could have scored a few more goals but we also scored three excellent finishes,” he said. “That game should have been more comfortable than it was but we lacked discipline.”