Own goal helps 10-man Leyton Orient extend lead at top of League Two

A Jon Mellish own goal on 73 minutes proved the different, as he inadvertently deflected a shot from Ruel Sotiriou past his own keeper Tomas Holy.

And O’s held on despite seeing Charlie Kelman sent off by referee Ben Speedie for two bookable offences soon after the only goal of the game.

Richie Wellens made three changes to his starting line-up from last weekend’s draw in Hartlepool, with Kelman, Rob Hunt and Kieran Sadlier coming in for Aaron Drinan, Jordan Brown and Sotiriou, who were all named on the bench.

But the two sides cancelled one another out in the opening quarter, with neither goalkeeper called into serious action.

Carlisle lost captain Morgan Feeney to injury early on and got a brief glimpse of goal when Fin Back got into the box on the right, but Alfie McCalmont was crowded out at the near post.

And when George Moncur found Paul Smyth in space at the other end, his cross towards Kieran Sadlier was comfortably dealt with by the visiting defence.

Back made good progress into the Orient box again approaching the half-hour mark, after a nice exchange of passes on the right, but a heavy touch allowed Darren Pratley to block him at the expense of a corner.

And a heavy challenge by Jack Armer on Smyth led to the first yellow card of the game, with Charlie Kelman also cautioned for his angry reaction to the foul.

Smyth had penalty appeals for handball turned down after a driving run into the box saw the ball bounce off a Carlisle defender, but the two incidents involving the Irishman helped to liven up the crowd, as the decibel levels rose.

And after Carlisle were forced into making a second change due to injury, with Back replaced by Jordan Gibson, Moncur did well to get in on the left side of the box and send in a low cross which Tomas Holy palmed out against a teammate, but away from any red shirts in the box.

Pratley had his name taken after a foul on Owen Moxon in first-half stoppage time, with Gibson curling the free-kick wide of the near post, before Smyth had a shot blocked following Jayden Sweeney’s strong run and Sadlier sent his follow-up effort over the crossbar as it remained goalless at the break.

Pratley was replaced by Brown at the break and the second half was only five minutes old when Sadlier saw a shot spilled by Holy, who did well to smother Kelman’s follow-up attempt.

And Moxon lifted a free-kick well over the bar at the other end on 54 minutes after Smyth had pushed over Armer.

Smyth had another penalty claim turned down after a challenge in the box, as he looked to connect with George Moncur’s pass, with the midfielder booked for dissent.

And Wellens made his second change with 20 minutes left, replacing Sadlier with Sotiriou, before Smyth fired a well-struck shot wide from Hunt’s cross.

The change paid off as the breakthrough finally came when Sotiriou’s shot deflected off Mellish and found the corner of the net, as Holy stood flatfooted.

But O’s joy was shortlived as Kelman was given his marching orders moments later for a second bookable offence, following a foul just outside the centre circle.

And the hosts had a let-off three minutes from time when Mellish pounced after a mix-up on the edge of the O’s box and went round Lawrence Vigouroux, only for his effort to be cleared off the line by Omar Beckles, who was booked for a slight pull on Ryan Edmondson in the last minute of normal time.

Vigouroux saved a well-struck shot from Gibson from the resulting free-kick as O’s fans in the Tommy Johnson Stand hailed their goalkeeper, who preserved his clean sheet through six minutes of injury time, despite picking up a yellow card for timewasting over a free-kick on halfway.

Leyton Orient: Vigouroux, Hunt, Beckles, Turns, Sweeney, El Mizouni, Pratley (Brown 46), Sadlier (Sotiriou 70), Moncur (Drinan 79), Smyth (Lyden 79), Kelman. Unused subs: Sargeant, James, McCart.

Attendance: 8,713.