Much-changed Leyton Orient make their mark at Mansfield

Having seen his side clinch top spot at the weekend, Richie Wellens made six changes to his starting line-up at the One Call Stadium.

Adam Thompson was named as captain, while Sam Sargeant came in for Lawrence Vigouroux at late notice, and Dan Happe was also included on the bench after four months out injured.

And after receiving a guard of honour from the home team, the champions saw plenty of the ball in the early stages, but they needed a fine block from Jordan Brown to deny the Stags a shot on goal on eight minutes.

It was a brief reprieve, though, as Davis Kellior-Dunn finished past Sargeant from eight yards to open the scoring just two minutes later.

O’s looked for a quick response, but Charlie Kelman could not get his shot away from Paul Smyth’s cross.

Kelman was on hand on 17 minutes, though, to nod home when Craig Clay saw his shot from the edge of the box come back off a post to level.
And Kieran Sadlier went close to putting O’s in front as his header just cleared the crossbar.

Jamie McCart produced a fine piece of defensive work to head away a dangerous Mansfield cross, before Kelman had the ball taken off his toe at the other end.

But O’s went 2-1 up on 32 minutes when Sadlier beat the offside trap and teed up Ruel Sotiriou, who fired past Christy Pym from the edge of the box.

McCart and Shad Ogie produced good blocks to deny Rhys Oates and Kellior-Dunn before the break, with Clay picking up a yellow card soon after the restart.

Sadlier sent a free-kick wide on 54 minutes, after being pulled back by Alfie Kilgour, who was booked.

But O’s were then reduced to 10 men on the hour when Ogie was dismissed for bringing down Kellior-Dunn as he ran through on goal, before Hiram Boateng’s free-kick hit the defensive wall and was cleared.

The visitors countered moments later, but Smyth’s cross could not find Sadlier at the far post and the Irishman made way for Tom James midway through the half.

Aaron Drinan and George Moncur replaced Sotiriou and Sadlier in a double substitution with 20 minutes to play, with Drinan firing just wide from the edge of the area moments later.

A poor first touch by Oates robbed Mansfield of a big chance on 73 minutes, with Lucas Akins then firing straight at Sargeant after finding space in the box.

But James then fired a free-kick wide on 79 minutes, as O’s looked to rubber-stamp their win, before Sargeant was booked for time-wasting and Kelman made way for Stephen Duke-McKenna.

O’s had a let-off when an unmarked Danny Johnson headed wide from a corner two minutes from time, with Sargeant producing a stunning save to deny Oates seconds later.

And some heroic defending by Thompson prevented Will Swan from putting a cross into the box in the fourth of seven minutes of stoppage time, with Kellior-Dunn firing a free-kick over in the closing moments as O’s held on.

Victory leaves O’s 10 points clear at the summit ahead of their last home game of the season against Stockport on Saturday.

Leyton Orient: Sargeant, Ogie, Thompson, Smyth (James 65), Clay, Sotiriou (Drinan 69), Brown, Kelman (Duke-McKenna 85), Sweeney, McCart, Sadlier (Moncur 69).

Unused subs: Pratley, Happe.

Attendance: 7,072.