League Two: Scunthorpe United 2 Leyton Orient 0
Leyton Orient saw their three game winning streak brought to an end as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Scunthorpe United in an early kick-off.
A goal in each half was enough for the Iron, as Ryan Loft and Alfie Beestin helped push Scunthorpe United further from the bottom of the table – after a 5-2 win midweek.
The O’s started brightly with plenty of corners to test Scunthorpe, and were soon gifted a great chance to take the lead.
McAnuff’s corner was handballed by Loft, and Leyton Orient were awarded a penalty kick.
Not deterred by his penalty miss against Bolton Wanderers, Danny Johnson stepped up looking to add to his impressive goal tally.
However, the Scunthorpe keeper Mark Howard guessed right, and Johnson’s low penalty was saved, and the Iron cleared their lines.
Although disappointed, The O’s responded well, and almost made amends when Captain Jobi McAnuff caught a half-volley sweetly – but it whistled just passed the post.
Just before the half hour mark though, the hosts pulled ahead, as a quick move saw a fantastic cross into the box, which Ryan Loft headed superbly into the top corner.
The O’s had a chance to peg them back, with Wilkinson’s header from a deep free-kick not long after, but Howard was once again equal to it.
The second half saw the hosts look to protect their lead, and Orient saw plenty of the ball, as they looked to level.
A chance fell to Louis Dennis just five minutes after the restart, with McAnuff’s free-kick bouncing free – but it was from an acute angle, and his thundered effort wound just past the post.
Orient had their tails up, and were almost gifted the equaliser, as Wilkinson’s cross was almost steered into his own net by Clarke – but he was spared blushes, as it missed narrowly.
Head Coach Ross Embleton made changes, as Craig Clay returned to action, swiftly followed by Lee Angol and Ruel Sotiriou – all of whom had suffered injury setbacks.
The latter two almost made an instant impact, as Lee Angol’s cut back to Ruel Sotiriou deflected narrowly wide, after good work.
Soon though, the game was all but wrapped up, as Scunthorpe added a second from distance.
Alfie Beestin was found on the edge of the 18-yard box, and angled a low strike into the corner of the net, and the hosts edged close to three points.
Orient tried in vain to work back into the game, Lee Angol again looking sharp after his layoff – but Scunthorpe defended resiliently, and saw out the game to earn three points.
Scunthorpe United: Howard, Clarke, McGahey, Onariase, Gilliead, Loft (Jarvis 72), Eisa (Green 81), Spence, Beestin, O’Malley, McAtee (Taylor 72).
Unused subs: Watson, Bedeau, Hallam, Rowe,
Leyton Orient: Vigouroux, Ling, Widdowson (Angol 70), Cisse, Happe, Coulson, McAnuff, Wilkinson (Sotiriou 70), Brophy, Dennis (Clay 58), Johnson.
Unused subs: Sargeant, Dayton, Akinola, Kyprianou.
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