Great Scott sinks Tranmere

23 November 2009

Leyton Orient 2 Tranmere 1

TWO goals from veteran striker Scott McGleish saw Orient bounce back from their FA Cup defeat, as they gained instant revenge over Tranmere Rovers on Saturday, writes TREVOR DAVIES.

Orient, who had crashed out of the cup four days earlier at the hands of Rovers, gained vital points from this basement battle as McGleish put them ahead midway through the first half and although Tranmere levelled soon afterwards through Charlie Barnett, the O's striker popped up with the winner 20 minutes from time.

Victory put a nine-point cushion between the O's and Rovers and manager Geraint Williams was delighted with his side's showing.

After the game the Orient boss, who came under fire from the fans following the club's FA Cup exit said: "It's a good three points, it's been coming to be fair, a few people thought I have been talking rubbish. But that's part of the job.

"I thought we gave a very good performance today, we asked the players to come out with a bit of tempo, which was lacking in midweek, we have got to set the tempo when the ball's on the pitch and the players came out and we did that from the first whistle."

Williams was full of praise for goal star McGleish and said: "It was a great finish for the first one, and he got on the end of a cross for the second. It's a massive part of a big win."

But there was also praise for on-loan Spurs winger Andros Townsend, who played a key role in the success.

"Andros is an exciting talent, when he's on the pitch you never know what's going to come next. He must be a defender's nightmare, so it's good to have him, but we have got to be careful, he's a young man and you don't want to burn him out.

"The one thing he has got is that electric pace. You look at him in training and sometimes it's heavy going for him and we try and protect him because he is Tottenham's player.

"They are delighted with what we're doing and he's delighted to be here. Hopefully it will continue for a long time yet."

It was Townsend that created the first chance of the game when his cross found Ryan Jarvis, who shot just wide.

Minutes late he galloped down the left again and this time set up a chance for McGleish, but again the effort was just off target.

Little was seen of Tranmere as an attacking force, but the live-wire Chris Shuker hooked one effort just wide of the far post, before O's broke the deadlock.

Another smart interchange down the left saw Townsend thread the ball through to Jarvis and he found strike partner McGleish, who hammered the ball from 20 yards into the bottom right hand corner.

Tranmere hit back and Ian Goodison had a header saved by Glenn Morris, before the visitors grabbed an equaliser on 29 minutes.

John Welsh fired in a speculative shot from 30 yards that goalkeeper Morris could only parry and Barnett reacted first and sent the rebound crashing into the net.

O's should have regained the lead on the stroke of half-time, when McGleish sent Jarvis through and when he tried to round goalkeeper Luke Daniels, he was forced wide and Tranmere were able to recover.

Adrian Patulea replaced Jarvis just after the hour and it was O's who grabbed the winner 20 minutes from time, when Sean Thornton's excellent cross from the left was met by McGleish, who had timed his run to perfection and flicked the ball home from six yards.

As Tranmere pushed forward, O's looked the more likely side to add to their tally and Luke Summerfield could have put the issue beyond doubt in the last 10 minutes.

First he shot wide after Jimmy Smith set him up and then fired over in stoppage time following another Townsend run.

But there were no late scares as O's survived four minutes of stoppage time without a problem.

Instant revenge was sweet for Williams and although the O's boss admitted he wanted to be greedy and win both matches, he conceded: "The league is our bread and butter and it's important Leyton Orient stay in League One, a cup run would have been lovely but if I had to choose, I would take the points."

Williams was also pleased that although McGleish has had to carry the goal threat almost single-handedly this season , the O's created more chances on Saturday.

"We've been a bit short in the goal scoring department. We started off okay in the season. But we had a meeting and a good talk on Thursday and did a lot of good work on the training ground on Friday and it came to fruition today.

"We created some good chances and if we get the balls into the box the forwards will score. In past games we have had loads of possession but have not got the ball in the box enough and haven't created enough chances.

"If we keep getting the ball into the box we will score," he said.