Leyton Orient 3 - 1 Bristol Rovers
Coca-Cola League One
GOALS in the last ten minutes from Adam Boyd and Jabo Ibehre gave Orient a 3-1 victory over Bristol Rovers on the final day of the season.
The O's were desperate to shake off a seven-match winless run before the campaign was up and those late strikes served as the perfect tonic going into the summer.
Wayne Gray scored his tenth goal of the season to give Orient an early lead, but the Pirates ended the first half strongly and should have had more than Rickie Lambert's header to show for their efforts.
But Orient reasserted themselves in the second period and those goals from strikers Boyd and Ibehre were enough to give them the points.
Rovers' set-piece prowess was well known to Orient - all six of their goals against the O's in the previous three meetings between the clubs this season came from dead ball situations - and Lambert gave them another warning when he headed Stuart Campbell's corner wide on three minutes.
Another constant of Orient's games with Rovers this season has been Gray goals, and he should have added his fourth against the Pirates this season five minutes later, but he smashed the ball over the top from close range after Brian Saah's knockdown fell to the striker.
Four minutes later, though, Gray did claim his customary goal against Rovers when he was upended by goalkeeper Phillips after JJ Melligan's through ball sent him clear.
Phillips escaped with a yellow card, but Gray dusted himself off to stroke calmly home from the spot.
Rovers were level before the half-hour mark, though, Lambert thumping a header home from eight yards after a Campbell corner was only cleared as far as the midfielder to send the ball back into the O's box.
Campbell had a go himself a minute later, but Glenn Morris was well positioned to stop his fierce shot.
The visitors were looking to build on their leveller and Morris had to make another save when Chris Lines' daisy-cutter made its way towards goal.
On 36 minutes, left back Joe Jacobson's cross dropped over Aiden Palmer's head for Lambert to fire over from a tight angle as Rovers kept their foot on the gas.
It seemed like a matter of time before they scored a second and Lines so nearly provided it a minute later when his 70-yard rampage down the left flank ended with a cross-shot that only just evaded Craig Disley in the middle.
Phillips had to save from Melligan at his near post on 38, but Rovers remained in the ascendancy as the first half drew to a close.
The second period began in a similar vein and Morris did brilliantly to deny Disley after David Pipe got in down the left and provided his striker with a low cross just 30 seconds after the interval.
Rovers were lucky not concede a second penalty with 50 minutes on the clock when Aiden Palmer's goalbound header appeared to have been blocked on the line by Aaron Lescott's arm.
Orient looked to have weathered the storm and Ibehre came desperately close to re-establishing the hosts' lead on 72 when his header thudded off the near post and away to safety off Phillips following an excellent cross from Palmer.
Three minutes later, Ibehre got another header in on goal and Phillips again denied him, moving to the left to tip his header behind.
With nine minutes left to play, however, Phillips was powerless to prevent Boyd from making it 2-1, and the striker's 17th goal of the season was a memorable one as he took the ball down on the edge of the box, before turning and teeing himself up for a right footed shot which beat the goalkeeper down low.
Rovers' Steve Elliott lofted over the top after Morris had collided with Brian Saah two minutes from time, but Orient made sure of the points a minute after the 90 in bizarre circumstances.
Elliott's wild attempt at a clearance flew high in the air and towards goal, where Ibehre rose above Phillips to nod home.
Leyton Orient: Morris; Purches, Saah, Oji (Thornton 65), Palmer; Melligan (Barcham 65), Chambers, Terry, Demetriou; W Gray (Ibehre 46), Boyd
Subs: Daniels, Shields
Goals: W Gray (12), Boyd (81), Ibehre (90+1)
Bristol Rovers: Phillips; Lescott, Elliott, Anthony, Jacobson; Pipe (Williams 84), Lines, Campbell, Rigg; Lambert, Disley (Klein-Davies 84)
Subs: Hinton, Haldane, Clough
Goal: Lambert (29)
Booked: Phillips
Referee: Robert Shoebridge (Derbyshire)
Attendance: 5,132 (782 away)
