Richie Wellens hails high-flying Orient in Sutton win

Richie Wellens praised the professionalism of his Leyton Orient side following their 2-0 win against Sutton which opened up a seven-point lead at the top of Sky Bet League Two.

The match was one of only two in the division to beat the cold and that was thanks to Orient’s foresight at the start of the week when they hired a dome that covered the entire pitch.

Second-half goals from Paul Smyth and an Alastair Smith own goal gave the O’s the three points after an opening 45 minutes that had provided little to warm the crowd on a bitterly cold afternoon at Brisbane Road.

“It was a professional performance overall from us,” Orient boss Wellens said. “I don’t think we were sharp the first 20 minutes and didn’t show cleverness, but you always want to win the game and we showed the professionalism to get the victory.”

Orient had two penalty shouts turned down during a scrappy first half and man-of-the-match Theo Archibald had a goal-bound shot blocked by a defender but was unlucky in the 31st minute.

Referee Carl Brook turned down one penalty appeal from Charlie Kelman, opting to award a free-kick on the edge of the area. Archibald stepped forward and crashed his shot over the wall and beat the goalkeeper, only to see the ball thunder against the underside of the crossbar and bounce to safety.

Top scorer Smyth provided the key to unlock the Sutton defence after 61 minutes. He collected a pass from Archibald, controlled the ball and turned past a defender before unleashing a 20-yard drive into the top right-hand corner for his ninth goal of the season.

Sutton pushed forward in search of an equaliser but seldom looked likely to break down Orient’s rock-solid defence and the outcome was settled in the 79th minute when Omar Beckles hooked on a throw and Smith deflected the ball over his own keeper and into the net.

“No excuses as it’s the same for clubs up and down the country, but when your training facilities aren’t available and you have to give players a few extra days off and you have a Christmas do which you know what that entails, then I thought the players have done brilliantly,” Wellens continued.

“The first 25 minutes we were a little bit off it against a strong physical team and then after that we had moments in the game up until the hour mark.

“But every player, including our substitutes, can be proud of their performance.

“The goal from Smudge, we have come to expect it now. He does it every day in training and I think that’s nine goals for him now this season. He was a bit in and out of the game but every time he touches it, he brings real quality for us.”

Sutton manager Matt Gray was frustrated with the final outcome.

“I was very pleased with how the game was going up until the hour mark when they scored,” he said. “They are top of the league for a reason and arguably the best side in the division, but we came here and gave them a real match.

“They hit the bar from a free-kick, but apart from that I don’t really remember our goalkeeper having a shot to save, so for an hour we were excellent and things just didn’t quite go for us.

“Just a slip on the edge of the box and they had that bit of quality where their player cuts inside and sticks it in the top corner and we find ourselves a goal down.

“The own goal just took the life out of us and from that moment we found it really difficult to get back into the game for the last 10 minutes.

“I had watched videos of Orient ahead of the game and I don’t think they repeated what they have been doing to teams. We frustrated them but just lacked that bit of quality in the final third.”