The O’s emerged victorious and secured the three points in an away fixture against 21st place, Havant & Waterlooville.
It was a game which opened with the O’s using their pace on the left-wing to split open the well organised Havant defence.
Just two minutes into the match, Widdowson was found in space on the left-wing. His powerful shot was saved by Dudzinski. Widdowson’s fast, overlapping run and powerful shot set the tone for the match. The Havant defence knew they would have a challenge on their hands keeping him quiet.
Havant were forced to make an early change after Jack James collided with Sam Ling. Lee Bradbury was brought on by Manager Ryan Woodford to fill the void upfront.
Widdowson continued to be a force in the game. His looping cross fell to Ling at the backpost. As the defender took a touch to control the ball, Dudzinski sprinted forward and cleared the ball away.
Just minutes later Orient won the ball back just outside of Brill’s box. It fell to Maguire-Drew who took advantage of the Havant defence’s lapse in concentration to race past them and curl his shot just wide of the post.
The O’s were getting closer. It seemed like only a matter of time before they ball found its way into the Havant net.
Ten minutes before the break, Orient opened the scoring in stunning fashion. After a long throw in Macauley Bonne’s touch knocked the ball into the path of Orient’s star number 10 Maguire-Drew. The midfielder took a touch and fired home from 30 yards into the top left corner of the Havant goal.
Domination continues into second half
The domination continued into the second half. Excellent link up play between Orient strikers, Bonne and Simpson, created chances but the ball always found its way into the hands of Dudzinski. The Havant defence had crumbled. The heroics of their keeper was the only thing keeping the O’s from turning this match into a rout.
Orient remained in control of the game, dominating possession and winning the midfield battle. On the hour mark, Marvin Ekpiteta picked up a loose ball around the edge of the box and clipped the bar. Orient had their chances but they failed to capitalise.
At the 67th minute, Havant levelled the score with a long range strike from Alfie Rutherford. The home side had very few chances in the second half but their clinical finishing brought them back into the game.
Just minutes after the O’s responded. Josh Coulson found his way onto the end of Sam Ling’s long throw to guide the ball into the back of the net.
The hosts turned up the heat and applied the pressure, determined to get some points from the fixture. As they threw more and more men at Orient’s back four, they came close to levelling the score but Brill’s excellent saves kept the lead safe until the final whistle blew.
