Leyton Orient succumbed to their first home defeat of 2010 on Saturday as Huddersfield Town punished a thoroughly dispirited O’s performance with a clinical 2-0 win.
The result left Orient just four points clear of the relegation zone ahead of the local derby at Brentford next weekend.
Orient manager Geraint Williams deemed his side’s first half performance a “shambles”, but after three straight defeats it was play-off chasers Huddersfield that looked the more nervous at the offset. The visitors’ young centre-back Neal Trotman conceded a needless corner in just the opening seconds and then hoofed the ball onto the roof of Brisbane Road’s highest stand from the resulting set-piece.
That was to be the last time the Yorkshire side would look at risk for the next 90 minutes.
The Terriers soon asserted themselves with the kind of swift counter-attacks that became the pattern for the rest of the game. After a couple of near-misses, it was no surprise when Jordan Rhodes succeeded in flicking a sharp cross from the left into the bottom of the net midway through the first-half.
More chances followed and, worryingly for Orient fans, their team could offer only stodgy midfield play in reply.
When Theo Robinson slid in at the near post to slam a cross from the right wing into the top of the net, the game was effectively settled with 22 minutes still to play.
Williams offered no excuses for the poor show.
“I thought today in the first half we looked a shambles really,” he said. “We were calling for offside so many times and it wasn’t given, that’s not us – we hold a better defensive line than that.
“Going forward, I think we got our first shot on target in the 94th minute. That tells you everything about the performance.
“They won the battle of wills in the first half, and we looked like the away side.”
Orient: Morris, Chorley, Mkandawire, Demetriou (Jarvis 71), Cave-Brown, Chambers, Thornton, Daniels, Doran (Baker 71), McGleish, Téhoué (Scowcroft 80)
Huddersfield: Smithies, Peltier, Clarke, Heffernan, Trotman, Collins (Clarke 90), Roberts (Berrett 87), Pilkington, Drinkwater, Robinson, Rhodes (Kay73)
Goals: Rhodes 26, Robinson 68
Ref: Tanner
Attendance: 4,119
