Queens Park Rangers 1 - 2 Leyton Orient
Carling Cup Round One
ORIENT continued their perfect start to the season with a Carling Cup shock at Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday evening.
Jason Demetriou and Adam Boyd were on the scoresheet to give the O's a deserved 2-0 second half lead.
Martin Rowlands pulled one back for the R's and set up an anxious finale, but Orient held their nerve to progress to the second round of this competition for the first time in five years.
The home side's Nick Ward had the game's first serious effort on goal, exchanging passes with Stefan Moore on the edge of the box before drawing a low save from Stuart Nelson.
Space then opened up for midfielder Stefan Bailey just inside the area in the 17th minute, but he decided to take the shot on early and he sliced it over the crossbar.
At the other end, Boyd almost caught out Lee Camp a minute later with a stinging shot from range that required a low, diving stop.
Strike partner Wayne Gray looked set to pounce on the rebound, but Danny Cullip eased him away from danger, allowing Camp to gather.
Boyd was in the thick of the action again on 21, hooking a shot across the Rangers goal after running onto Paul Terry's low cross from the right.
The home side were giving the ball away on an all too regular basis and Melligan was given the best chance of the first half by Wayne Corden's cut back on 35 minutes, but he drilled over from 12 yards.
Moore glanced a header wide from Marcus Bignot's 39th minute cross as Rangers threatened to show Orient their Championship pedigree, but Orient would have been happy with an opening first period in which they comfortably matched their hosts.
Ward, Rangers' most threatening player before the break, curled a left-footed effort over the top at the start of the second half.
But Orient soon found the goal they deserved, With home centre half Michael Mancienne stuck yards behind the remainder of his backline, Boyd was played onside and given all the time he needed to divert Alton Thelwell's pass to Demetriou, who took his time and picked his spot to give the O's the lead.
And on the hour mark, only a stunning save from Camp kept Rangers in the game. Gray looked like he had made it 2-0 when he ran to the near post to meet Boyd's excellent low cross. But Camp had other ideas and flung himself to his right to tip the ball onto the crossbar.
Four minutes later, though, he was powerless to prevent Boyd from doubling the lead. Cullip was the man to blame, dragging Gray down inside the area and Boyd stepped up to send Camp the wrong way from the spot.
But QPR handed themselves a lifeline on 68 when Rowlands pounced on some indecision in the O's backline to reach Ward's lofted ball and drill past an exposed Nelson.
It was all set up for a grandstand finish, but Orient defended the high balls excellently against Rangers' lofty forward pairing and they held out to record a worthy win over higher level opponents.
QPR: Camp; Rehman (Stewart 82), Cullip, Mancienne, Bignot (Curtis 82); Ward, Bolder, Bailey (St Aimie 64), Rowlands; Nygaard, Moore
Subs: Cole (GK), Timoska
Goal: Rowlands (68)
Booked: Ward, Cullip
Orient: Nelson; Terry, Thelwell, Mkandawire, Palmer; Melligan (Daniels 77), Chambers, Demetriou, Corden; Gray, Boyd (Echanomi 77)
Subs: Morris (GK), Sylvester, Shields
Goals: Demetriou (55), Boyd (pen 64)
Referee: Andy Hall (West Midlands)
Attendance: 5,260 (971 away)
