Orient win their 3rd home match in a row
Orient win their 3rd home match in a row as they consign Scunthorpe United to relegation from the Football League.
On the warmest day of the year so far, Ruel Sotiriou continued his red-hot form as Leyton Orient overcame a Scunthorpe United team who wilted under The O’s relentless attacking play.
Man of the match Paul Smyth put The O’s ahead after 15 minutes with a wonderful solo goal shortly before Theo Archibald’s long-range effort doubled the home side’s lead. Orient controlled the match from that point on and scored their third goal through Ruel Sotiriou’s diving header on the half hour mark.
Orient’s total control of proceedings continued in the second half. The O’s can consider themselves unlucky to have failed to add to their lead as three different players saw their efforts hit the frame of the goal. Scunthorpe’s failure to win the match made it mathematically impossible for them to avoid relegation from the Football League.
Richie Wellens made five changes to the Orient team that started the match against Sutton United last weekend. Connor Wood, Adam Thompson, Alex Mitchell, Jordan Brown and, March’s EFL League Two Player of the Month, Ruel Sotiriou all came into the starting eleven.
Scunthorpe United Manager, Keith Hill, elected to make four changes to the team that lost at home to Mansfield Town last weekend. Joe Nuttall, Finley Shrimpton, Harry Lewis and Sam Burns dropped out of the starting eleven and were replaced by Rekeil Pyke, Alfie Beestin, Tyrese Sinclair and Ethan Young, who made his first start for the team.
Neither side managed to impose themselves on the contest in the opening stages as the first ten minutes of the game passed without incident. The only real moment of note was Scunthorpe midfielder Hayden Hackney showing he felt right at home in East London when he audaciously nutmegged Paul Smyth in his own team’s penalty area.
Paul Smyth put Orient ahead in the 15th minute with his third league goal of the season. He dribbled past Ryan Delaney on the right wing before driving into the box and firing his shot into the far corner of the goal. It had seemed as if Smyth was looking to roll the ball across goal for Aaron Drinan but instead, he put his head down and powered his effort past Rory Watson in the Scunthorpe goal.
The Iron almost got themselves level just moments later when Tyrese Sinclair’s cross found Rekeil Pyke at the back post, but he couldn’t direct his effort on target.
Theo Archibald extended Orient’s lead with a fine effort from outside the box. An Orient counterattack began with some good interplay between Paul Smyth and Aaron Drinan in their own half before the ball was worked to Archibald on the right wing. The Orient attacker cut inside on his favoured left foot and curled his shot beyond the desperate reach of Rory Watson in the visitor’s goal.
Paul Smyth missed a golden opportunity to score his second goal of the afternoon from another well-worked Orient counterattack. Aaron Drinan’s cross to his teammate at the back post beat the Scunthorpe defenders but Smyth somehow failed to make contact with the ball from a couple of yards out.
Orient did get their third when the Scunthorpe goalkeeper misjudged Jordan Brown’s cross, leaving Ruel Sotiriou to score a wonderful diving header at the back post. Brown’s floated cross into the box caused the ball to drift over Watson’s outstretched glove as Sotiriou flung himself forward and headed the ball into the vacant goal via the near post.
The O’s continued to search for more goals as the first half drew to a close. Paul Smyth and Ruel Sotiriou both saw efforts saved before the referee blew his whistle to end the half, allowing the crowd in E10 to applaud the team’s efforts as the players headed towards the changing rooms.
Scunthorpe almost got one goal back shortly after the second half kicked off. The ball broke to Liam Feeney on the edge of the box, but his left footed effort was touched around the post by Lawrence Vigouroux.
Sotiriou hit the post in the 52nd minute from what would have been a fantastic finish across goal. Sotiriou ran onto Jordan Brown’s through ball and opted to take his shot first time. It looked as if the Cypriot international had worked his angles out to perfection as his shot trickled towards the far corner, but instead of the ball kissing the inside of the post and rolling in, it bounced back off the woodwork and was cleared.
Ten minutes after Sotiriou’s effort hit the post, it was Archibald’s turn to go close for Orient. He rode a couple of challenges in the visitor’s penalty area but could only fire his effort straight at the Scunthorpe goalkeeper.
The O’s hit the frame of the goal again in the 66th minute when Hector Kyprianou’s effort bounced back off the crossbar.
With the three points seemingly secured, Richie Wellens brought Ruel Sotiriou off and introduced Harry Smith in his place.
The Orient head coach also replaced Aaron Drinan with Daniel Nkrumah who made his first ever appearance for The O’s at the Breyer Group Stadium.
Harry Smith became the third Orient player to hit the woodwork when the substitute smashed his shot back off the crossbar from his position in the middle of the goal.
Scunthorpe did manage a couple of shots on target in the closing stages of the match, but they failed to seriously test Vigouroux in the Orient goal.
Full-Time: Leyton Orient 3 – 0 Scunthorpe United
Orient: Vigouroux, Alex Mitchell, Wood, Thompson, Beckles, Brown, Kyprianou, Sotiriou (Smith 62′), Drinan (Nkrumah 68′), Archibald, Smyth (Young 73′)
Subs: Pratley, Byrne, Ogie, Nkrumah, Khan, Young, Smith
Scunthorpe: Watson, Sinclair (Wilson 77′), Young, Rowe, Delaney, Grant (Moore-Billam 45′), Pyke, Gallimore, Hackney (Matheson 45′), Feeney, Beestin
Subs: Shrimpton, Nuttall, Moore-Billam, Matheson, Foster, Wilson, O’Malley
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