Early strikes from Jamie Reid and Jordan Roberts fired second-placed Stevenage towards a 3-0 win over Leyton Orient which moved them to within two points of the League Two leaders.
A bad day at the Lamex Stadium for the table-topping O’s was compounded when they were reduced to 10 men for the third time in four games thanks to Idris El Mizouni’s red card.
Stevenage, who stretched their unbeaten League Two run to 11 matches, were ahead in the sixth minute when Reid got in front of Orient goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux to nod in after Carl Piergianni had headed on Terence Vancooten’s free-kick.
The hosts were 2-0 up after 11 minutes when Roberts was allowed to cut inside from the right before beating Vigouroux at his near post.
Things went from bad to worse for Orient as they had El Mizouni sent off just before half-time when a deliberate handball earned him a second yellow card.
Vigouroux made a brilliant save to keep out Piergianni’s header early in the second half, but a perfect afternoon for Stevenage was rounded off by Luke Norris’ calm finish in stoppage time.
