Cheltenham Town 1 - 0 Leyton Orient
Coca-Cola League One
ORIENT old boy Paul Connor condemned Orient to a disastrous Easter with the winning goal in Monday's game at Cheltenham.
The former O's striker netted 90 seconds into the second period to inflict consecutive defeats on the visitors and leave them three points adrift of the play-off places.
Martin Ling's men rarely looked like getting back into the contest once they fell behind and they could have few complaints over their 14th defeat of the season.
Adam Boyd came close to giving Orient a sixth minute lead, receiving possession from Wayne Gray on the left flank before moving inside and sending in a 25-yard shot which faded just past the far post.
Two minutes later, Cheltenham found themselves with a spare man at the far post, allowing Scott Brown to get a shot away after Steven Gillespie's flicked on Michael D'Agostiono's cross. Fortunately for the O's, Stephen Purches got in to block and deflect the ball behind for a corner.
Connor gave the O's a major scare on 16 minutes when he burst onto a through ball from Brown and struck the far post with an angled shot across Glenn Morris from 10 yards.
The home side were looking dangerous and Morris had to dive low to his right to save Gillespie's effort after Brian Saah stood off the Cheltenham striker, allowing him to run at him and strike at goal.
Orient had only offered a sporadic threat, but Boyd had Cheltenham hearts in mouths momentarily in the 26th minute when his hooked effort dropped inches wide.
SIx minutes later Boyd had a shot cleared off the line by Jerry Gill as Orient looked to make Cheltenham pay for not taking advantage of their bright start.
Wayne Gray was the next to test the Cheltenham backline, forcing a save from Shane Higgs with his low drive after Paul Terry had led a swift break.
O's boss Martin Ling was then forced into a defensive change, with Brian Saah limping out of the action. Clayton Fortune came on to make his first O's appearance in over 17 months.
Six minutes before the break, Morris had to fly to his left to repel Brown's long-range volley, but neither side could break the deadlock before the break, despite the open nature of the game.
However, Cheltenham didn't have to wait long after the restart to open the scoring. Orient couldn't get a set piece clear from inside the box, and as the ball was fed back in, Connor held off Alton Thelwell before finishing past Morris from close range.
Eight minutes later, Gillespie came desperately close to extending Cheltenham's lead when his measured lob bounced off the crossbar after Fortune passed the ball straight to him.
The same player curled an effort just over the crossbar on 58 when he carried the ball all the way from the Orient half to the edge of their penalty area.
All of Cheltenham's chances were falling to Gillespie and he struck the O's crossbar for a second time with 64 minutes on the clock, with another lobbed effort from 20 yards.
But Orient were still in the game and Boyd miskicked in front of goal after Wayne Gray knocked sub Jabo Ibehre's cross back into the middle on 69 minutes.
Cheltenham sub Ashley Vincent had an opportunity to seal the points 11 minutes from time, but Morris was able to block his effort at the near post after he had seen off the attentions of Charlie Daniels.
Damian Spencer also drilled just wide of Morris' goal, but Orient were still looking for an equaliser and Sean Thornton sent a right-footed shot just wide of the far post in the final minute.
Gray diverted Boyd's low drive into Brown's arms in stoppage time, but Orient couldn't make the breakthrough and Cheltenham claimed a deserved victory.
Cheltenham: Higgs; Gallinagh, Duff, Keogh, Gill; D'Agostino (Vincent 63), Bird, Armstrong, Brown (Lindegaard 72); Connor (Spencer 76), Gillespie
Subs: Brown (GK), Connolly
Goal: Connor (47)
Leyton Orient: Morris; Purches, Thelwell, Saah (Fortune 37), Daniels; Demetriou (Ibehre 63), Chambers, Terry (Thornton 71), Barcham; Gray, Boyd
Subs: Nelson (GK), Palmer
Booked: Thelwell, Thornton
Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire)
Attendance: 3,988 (363 away)
