Forward reflects on his first goal for six weeks, his partnership with David Mooney and the penalty incident against Dagenham & Redbridge

Macauley Bonne was pleased to see his goalscoring drought come to an end last night as Leyton Orient defeated Dagenham & Redbridge 1-0 in their FA Cup fourth qualifying round replay at Brisbane Road.

The forward had not found the net since September 2 – a run of eight-games – but scuffed home a David Mooney cross in the 23rd minute.

It was exactly what Bonne deserved after assistant Ross Embleton had revealed on the Orient Outlook Podcast that the 21-year-old always spends time doing extra sessions working on his finishing.

When quizzed about his overtime, Bonne said: “It’s always been me and that’s just my way.

“I’ve always tried to be the last one on the training field doing my extra finishing. I just want to make sure I’m always sharp on a Saturday and ready to go. I know it is something I don’t have to do, but I want to.

“You could say it comes natural to me. I just like scoring goals, so I’ll always try and find whoever it is to give me a few balls so I can score.”

Bonne was honest after the game and joked he’d take plenty more scuffs after only just beating Dagenham goalkeeper Mark Cousins.

He now has eight goals to his name this term and will aim to hit another purple patch like he did during the final weeks of August.

“A goal is a goal. I will take 15 scuffs a season. It doesn’t matter if it comes off my knee, my head, me ear. They are all goals,” said Bonne.

The forward was indebted to strike partner Mooney in the end after the Irishmen’s centre perfectly picked out the youngster.

Jake Caprice did well cutting side from the right before finding Orient’s club captain, who crossed in for Bonne.

But just before the opener, the pair had words after Bonne had gone for a header when Mooney was perhaps better placed just behind him.

Seconds later the pair were embracing after helping O’s take the lead, which sums up the life of a strike partnership.

Bonne laughed: “That’s football. You make your own decisions whether they are right or wrong, but at the end of the day its come good.

“He has assisted me for a goal and I could have got him one, but football is like that. Nothing ever comes off the pitch. It stays there and doesn’t get dragged into the changing room and it’s all love between us.”

Last night’s match saw the pair rediscover some of the form which helped Orient make a great start to the season.

Mooney and Bonne linked up on numerous occasions with the new 3-5-2/5-3-2 system appearing to suit the duo.

“It makes us stay closer together and helps us both out a lot, so that’s what it is down to,” admitted the match winner.

“When we are close together, the partnership can start and we can link up. There were a few more links where we could have scored from, but the longer the partnership remains and gets stronger, the more goals we’ll score together.”

Bonne might have grabbed a brace had referee Alan Young awarded Orient a second-half penalty.

The former Colchester United forward flicked the ball on for Mooney and he cut inside Scott Doe before going to ground after contact from Mark Cousins.

Although Mooney went down easily, Dagenham’s goalkeeper clearly caught the O’s striker, but Mooney received a booking for stimulation instead.

“It was a penalty all day and the thing is I am on them, so I was even more gutted,” joked Bonne.

There were a lot of Orient smiles and laughs after the game and it was great to see following a long few weeks.

What’s now important is for O’s to build on this win and begin to climb the table, which they are sure to do if Bonne keeps on seeing his hard work pay off.