Wellens thrilled as Orient beat Bradford to extend lead

Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens was naturally delighted after his side beat Bradford 3-0 to restore their five-point lead at the top of League Two.

The O’s have now won six of their last seven league matches and eight of their 10 games at Brisbane Road in the division this season.

Two goals in eight first-half minutes by Charlie Kelman and Tom James paved the way for this latest success before substitute Ruel Sotiriou added a third late on.

Wellens, who signed a new deal earlier in the week which will keep him at Orient until 2025, said: “We grew into the game and had a very good 10-minute spell when we got the first goal.

“We were really good at times in the second half against an opponent who I think will be up there at the end.

“There is no coincidence we keep a load of clean sheets and our wingers get goals because the striker is setting the tone up the top of the pitch by the work-rate of our number nine so I am pleased Charlie Kelman has got his rewards after another hard-working performance.

“I give credit to our second goal to our goalkeeping coach Simon Royce, who works on our set-pieces, because I didn’t agree with him that we could make the pass to the edge of the box and thought we needed to narrow it but it worked perfectly so credit to him.

“If Bradford go one-nil after that first 10 minutes, then of course it’s a totally different game but I don’t want to change the way we play irrespective of the scoreline.

“I always want us to be consistent and carry out what we want to do.”

Bradford manager Mark Hughes felt his team were denied penalties at crucial times in the match.

He said: “We had two good claims for a penalties which the referee just waved away which was a disappointment.

“Then we got caught out with our line playing their guy onside where he was able to have a free run and clear shot which makes it one-nil.

“I thought first half we did pretty well at times and we started the brighter of the two sides having some good opportunities but we didn’t hit the target when we needed to with clear shots.

“The second goal you have to give credit to their lad. He showed a bit of quality but two-nil was no way a reflection of the game at that point.

“Second half they slowed things down where we couldn’t get a grip of the game. At the moment we are just conceding too many easy goals and it’s the small details of the games we need to get better.”