Oldham Athletic 4 - 0 Leyton Orient
FA Cup Round Two

ORIENT'S FA Cup hopes were ended in disappointing fashion as Oldham Athletic inflicted their heaviest defeat of the season in a one-sided second round clash.

Once they had gone behind at Boundary Park the O's weren't at the races against their League One opposition, for whom Chris Killen scored a hat-trick.

The New Zealander took full advantage of the creativity of his midfield to single-handedly take the tie out of Orient's reach, whilst Lee Croft added the fourth late on.

It may have been a different story had Martin Ling been able to call upon his two main strikers, but with Lee Steele and Gary Alexander both still injured, he had to rely on Jabo Ibehre and Lee Barnard.

Ibehre was suffering with flu and came off at half-time and Barnard, who had Orient's only shot on target of the match, suffered from a lack of service as Oldham dominated the key areas.

The opening stages were even, with Brian Saah's shot from 20 yards which cleared the crossbar the only effort either side mustered, but the outcome of the match hinged on a 24th minute decision which handed Oldham a penalty.

Referee Anthony Bates was closer than his assistant to a challenge by Ibehre on Will Haining from a Danny Hall free-kick, but the flag convinced the Stoke-On-Trent official to award a penalty.

Lee Harrison guessed correctly, diving to his right and managing to get a touch to the ball, but Killen's powerful penalty was well-placed and the deadline was broken.

Orient needed to respond to their setback, but they were unable to get in to the game and the home side assumed near-complete domination.

Six minutes before the interval the lead was doubled when Croft, who was the game's most creative player, crossed from the right and Killen headed home at the far-post.

Harrison was on hand to save from a Haining header shortly afterwards as the O's tried to steady their already rocked ship and indeed should have halved the deficit in first-half injury time.

A quick throw from the right found its was through to Barnard in the box and he turned away from his marker but could only shoot straight at Les Pogliacomi.

The miss proved costly as Orient failed to create any similar chances in the second period, where Oldham's well-organised side again took control of the situation.

Killen and Neil Kilkenny both spurned opportunities to extend Athletic's lead as Orient began to lose their temper and were guilty of diving in and talking back with increasing regularity.

However, once Killen had completed his hat-trick with a neat flick past the on-rushing Harrison 25 minutes from time, the O's calmed down, resigned to their fate.

Martin Ling had already been forced to move Andy Scott in to the forward line, with Tom Newey coming on to the left of midfield, whilst two further changes saw Daryl McMahon handed a debut for the club and Derek Duncan make the first FA Cup appearance of his career.

Matt Lockwood sent a long-range effort over the bar on a rare foray forward for the O's, but it was Oldham who used their quick movement and accurate passing to the best effect, forcing the O's to chase the ever lengthening shadows across the Boundary Park pitch.

A double save by Harrison from Croft and Kevin Betsy, as well as a wasted chance by Mark Hughes kept the scoreline respectable, but five minutes from time Croft deservedly got on the scoresheet when he rounded Harrison and threaded the ball through the legs of Lockwood, who was covering on the line.

A better reading of the offside trap would have given Oldham many more chances to score further goals, but the lesson they had taught Orient was severe enough without increased punishment.

4	Oldham Athletic	FA Cup Round Two		Leyton Orient	0
1	Les POGLIACOMI	Boundary Park - 3pm		Lee HARRISON	12
2	Dean HOLDEN (C)	Attendance:		Donny BARNARD	2
3	Adam GRIFFIN	4657 (552 away)		Matt LOCKWOOD	3
5	Will HAINING	Referee:		Michael SIMPSON	4
12	Chris KILLEN	Anthony BATES		Alan WHITE (C) YC	5
15	Danny HALL	(Stoke-on-Trent)		John MACKIE YC	6
22	*Lee CROFT*	Goals:		Wayne CARLISLE	7
23	Kevin BETSY	Killen (24 pen, 39, 65)		*Andy SCOTT*	11
24	Mark HUGHES	Croft (85)		Jabo IBEHRE	17
25	Neil KILKENNY			Brian SAAH	21
28	David EYRES			Lee BARNARD YC	23
	Substitutes	Replaced (time)		Substitutes
8	Danny BOSHELL	25 (79)		Glenn MORRIS (GK)	1
13	Steve MILDENHALL (GK)			Justin MILLER	15
17	Scott VERNON	12 (79)	17 (HT)	Tom NEWEY	19
20	Dave BEHARALL		7 (68)	Derek DUNCAN	22
35	Matty WOLFENDEN	28 (86)	21 (59)	Daryl McMAHON	24