Leyton Orient 3 - 1 Swansea City
Coca Cola League Two

FROM the ridiculous to the sublime, Orient shrugged off their dismal result at Shrewsbury last week to tear apart high-flying Swansea City with one of their best performances of the season.

Scoring two goals of the highest quality before the break, the O's netted a third shortly after the re-start before absorbing the Welsh side's fightback in mostly awful conditions at Brisbane Road.

Although there was only one change in personnel - with Gabriel Zakuani returning to the defence - Orient were entirely unrecognisable from the team which were run ragged at Gay Meadow as they made Swansea nervous at the back and subdued the threat of their potent attack.

The O's were noticeably positive from the off and set out their intentions after nine minutes when Justin Miller, reverting to right-back after Zakuani's recall, crossed for Lee Steele, whose shot from ten yards was blocked.

Steele, without a goal since early November, was to endure another blank afternoon, but his hard-work paid off with two assists as well as a hand in the third.

Five minutes later Michael Simpson put the ball across the edge of the area for Scott to sidefoot straight at Willy Gueret, Swansea's uncomfortable looking goalkeeper.

But a minute later Orient got their reward when Steele held off two challenges and slid a pass across to Andy Scott, who sized up his shot and rifled a powerful effort past Gueret from just inside the penalty area.

With heavy winds behind them, Swansea tried to take advantage by forcing an equaliser, but the closest they came was an unlikely forward run by former Orient loanee Ezy Iriekpen, who exchanged passes with Leon Britton before breaking into the box only for Lee Harrison to quickly rush out and smother the ball.

An open start to the game had been spoilt only by the performance of referee Fred Graham, who went on to produce a number of baffling responses to key incidents throughout - the first of which followed immediately after Harrison's save when he denied Daryl McMahon a penalty after a seemingly obvious foul by Alan Tate.

11 minutes before the break McMahon had the last laugh when he rounded off a smooth move by slipping the ball past Gueret from eight yards.

Matt Lockwood delivered the ball down the left flank for Steele to beat his man and pull it back to the near post where McMahon was in support and could take his time to pick his spot before finishing neatly.

Up until five minutes before the interval, strong defending had enabled Orient to keep Lee Trundle at bay, but they almost paid the price for standing off him, only for the hot-shot's effort to clear the crossbar after he had bypassed four defenders.

In injury time both sides had further chances - McMahon thrashed in a dipping volley from 25 yards which Gueret did well to tip over at full-stretch, whilst at the other end Harrison blocked a close-range effort from Trundle and also a long-range Sam Ricketts shot.

Orient effectively sealed the points six minutes after the interval when McMahon, set in the clear by Steele, was brought down in the box by Gueret to allow Lockwood the chance to convert from the spot.

Surprisingly, no further action was taken against City's stopper, despite McMahon being in an obvious position to score, but Lockwood made sure there would be no injustice with a confidently taken penalty.

It wasn't until the 56th minute that Orient won their first corner - and there were only four in the entire match.

Next, another contentious incident revolved around what looked like a foul by the otherwise commanding John Mackie on Trundle by the goalline which produced a booking for the striker for a dive when a penalty looked the likely outcome.

With the wind and rain swirling around the ground, legs grew tired and Swansea's attempts to cut the deficit were ended by dogged defending, much of it from Zakuani, outstanding on his recall.

The visitors threw more men forward, allowing space for Orient to counter-attack, but their attacks all-too-often broke down on the 18 yard line.

Nine minutes from time, Swansea's endeavours were rewarded with a consolation goal courtesy of former O's striker Lee Thorpe, a midweek signing from Bristol Rovers, whose low shot from Andy Robinson's pass was drilled through Harrison's legs.

But a dramatic conclusion was rarely in question as the O's played out time to conclude an impressive team performance with a confidence-boosting victory.