League One: Leyton Orient 1 Scunthorpe 3

Orient manager Russell Slade saw his 100th game in charge ruined by relegation-threatened Scunthorpe, as they came from behind to take the points with three second half goals.

The O’s looked on course for victory when Jonathan Tehoue scored with an excellent header on 34 minutes, but the visitors hit back after the break.

First Josh Walker levelled on 61 minutes then, in a dramatic last five minutes, former O’s loanee Andy Barcham came on as a substitute and put the visitors ahead.

To compound the misery Scunthorpe added a third on 88 minutes when O’s keeper Lee Butcher dropped a corner and Jon Parkin scrambled the ball home.

Butcher was injured in the process and, without a keeper on the bench, had to be replaced by defender Scott Cuthbert between the sticks.

After the game a disappointed Slade said: “It was a tight game and a bit scrappy at times, but we managed to get an element of control and I thought that we deserved our half-time lead.

“But in the second half we didn’t go out there and play and we didn’t do the simple things well.

“We didn’t control the ball, we didn’t pass the ball well, and I didn’t think that we tracked people from midfield.

“It was difficult to find a positive spin in the second period, it was really disappointing.

“We have won six games away from home and only once have we come back here and backed it up with a home win. That’s disappointing and tells the inconsistency of the season so far.”

To make matters worse keeper Butcher looks set for a spell on the sidelines with a knee injury.

“It’s not looking too good at the minute,” said Slade

“It’s early days and he is in there with our medical team and we will give him the best care possible, but the symptoms are not too good and that’s disappointing for someone who has been so consistent since getting his place back in the side.”

The first half was largely a forgettable affair as there was plenty of graft, but little craft on show as Scunthorpe, battling to beat the drop, fought tooth and nail for every ball.

Orient did have an early chance when Leon McSweeney, restored to the side in place of Terrell Forbes, crossed from the right, but Tehoue headed well wide of the mark.

However, 11 minutes before the break, the French striker proved far more clinical when he was presented with another chance.

On this occasion he sent a header exploding into the net following an excellent left-wing cross from Dean Cox.

The goal seemed to knock the confidence out of the visitors and for the rest of the half Orient took a grip of the game and almost stretched their lead with a couple of half chances.

After the break Orient looked to kill the game off and on 59 minutes Cox fired inches over the bar.

However, it was the visitors who grabbed a surprise leveller on 61 minutes when Garry Thompson’s cross from the left cross was headed back across goal by Mark Duffy and fired into the net by Walker to throw the game right back into the balance.

The goal gave the visitors a massive boost and they started to dominate and look for a winner.

Five minutes from time Barcham, who had only been on for four minutes, fired home following Christian Riberio’s cross from the right.

And worse followed three minutes later when Scunthorpe added a third following their first corner of the game.

Butcher gathered a corner, but dropped as he landed and his knee gave way. In the scramble that followed Parkin fired home as Butcher was rolling in agony and after a lengthy stoppage was stretchered off.

Without a keeper on the bench Cuthbert pulled on the green jersey and made a great save five minutes into stoppage time when he tipped a Parkin shot over.

But once again O’s had let a lead slip at home and have won just four times in front of their own fans this season.

Leyton Orient: Butcher 6 (Chorley 88 mins), McSweeney 7, Leacock 6, Cuthbert 6, Dickson 6, Smith 6, Taiwo 6 (Porter 68 mins), Spring 6, Cox 7, *Tehoue 7, Lisbie 6 (Mooney 81 mins). Subs: Forbes, Laird,

Orient bookings: Dickson (70 mins foul)

Scunthorpe United: Slocombe, Togwell, Mirfin, O’Connor, Parkin, Thompson, Walker, Reid, Duffy (Barcham 81 mins), Reckord, Ribeiro. Subs: Byrne, Robertson, Mozika, Grant.

Scunthorpe bookings: Thompson (54 mins foul)

Referee: Darren Sheldrake.

Attendance: 4,055 (inc 446 Scunthorpe fans)