Friendly: Leyton Orient XI 1 Cambridge United XI 2

A young Leyton Orient XI suffered a 2-1 friendly defeat at home to Cambridge United on Monday afternoon.

O’s assistant manager Ross Embleton took charge of the team with head coach Steve Davis sitting in the stands at Brisbane Road.

The match was a chance for the likes of Sam Sargeant, Myles Judd, Michael Clark, Henry Ochieng and Freddy Moncur to get minutes under their belt.

Fellow youngsters Charley Barker and Sam Dalby also featured against the U’s and it was the away side which took the lead.

After a fairly quiet first-half, the game sprung into action just before the break when Sargeant fouled a Cambridge forward inside the area.

The referee pointed to the spot and the U’s took full advantage to go one up at the end of the first 45.

Orient equalised soon after the restart, however, when Dalby linked up with Ruel Sotiriou and the young academy forward fired home in the 55th minute.

Embelton’s team were only on level terms for six minutes though, as Cambridge retook the lead when O’s failed to defend a corner.

The hosts pushed for an equaliser and came close through Moncur and Dalby, but had to settle for a 2-1 defeat.

It was a worthwhile exercise for Davis and co with a number of players getting much-needed game time and Sotiriou on target again.

Leyton Orient: Sargeant, Judd, McLean (Perkins 87), Clark, Stevenson (Camilo-Tayaca 73), Ochieng (Haxhiu 73), Moncur, Barker, Benyoucef (Alderson 64), Sotiriou (Clayden 64), Dalby.