Hard-working Blues stun the Orient

Leyton Orient 1 Wycombe Wanderers 3

The Blues brought back memories of last season's thriller at Bury with a hard-working and determined performance that strangled the O's into submission and delighted a noisy contingent of 480 travelling fans crammed into a corner of Brisbane Road.

For the first time this season, keeper Nikki Bull was able to take a back seat as his teammates effectively closed the O's down all over the park.

Right from the front, where Strevens and Beavon worked their socks off to harry the O's defence, all the way to the back where the twin-towers of Tunnicliffe and Winfield stood firm, the Blues were energetic, focused, and clearly in the mood to win.

When you employ a work-ethic like that and sprinkle it with the ball-skills of Grant, Donnelly, Beavon and Ainsworth, you have a recipe for success, and if the Blues can emulate last night's performance on a consistent basis, they'll surprise a lot of teams this season.

Orient can certainly have no complaints about the result. Their only prolonged spell on top was a twenty-minute period at 2-1 down, but when the Blues stood firm and scored again shortly after the break, there was only ever going to be one winner.

The opening goal was scored with only eight minutes on the clock when Donnelly's corner was only partially cleared and Ainsworth clipped a cross back into the danger area where Strevens rose to head the ball home.

Dean Cox lashed home an equaliser after 15 minutes, but the Blues were back in front almost immediately when Beavon was fouled in the box and Donnelly stroked the ensuing spot-kick into the right-hand corner of the net.

The Blues third goal came five minutes into the second-half when Joel Grant topped-off a fine individual performance by heading another Ainsworth cross beyond the despairing dive of O's keeper Lee Butcher.

It was the latest in a long line of cracking away-days under Gary Waddock, and a result that takes the unbeaten Blues to the heady heights of 7th in the table.

Wycombe line-up & ratings
Bull (7), Foster (7), Winfield (8), Tunnicliffe (8), Sandell (7), Ainsworth (8) (Bloomfield 62 (7)), Halls (7), Donnelly (8) (Harding 93 (n/a)), Grant (8), Strevens (8), Beavon (8) (Benyon 79 (7)),

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