Leyton Orient make it two wins from two with victory at Crawley

Posted Sunday, August 07, 2022 by PA

Tom James hit his second goal in successive games as Leyton Orient made it two league wins out of two with a 1-0 victory at Crawley.

The hosts, beaten by the same scoreline at Carlisle in their opening game, again struggled for fluency and rarely threatened to get on terms.

Crawley welcomed a bumper crowd of nearly 4,000 after the new owners reduced season ticket prices, and new boss Kevin Betsy promised “real positivity” in his first home game in charge.

The Reds threatened in the 19th minute when debutant Teddy Jenks set up James Tilley but he drilled a low shot wide of the post from 12 yards.

Crawley defender George Francomb blocked a shot by George Moncur before a low drive from Theo Archibald was saved by Corey Addai, who was making his first EFL start.

Orient took the lead in tremendous style only five minutes after the break when Crawley only half cleared a corner and full-back James unleashed an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area to record his second goal in two games in front of the O’s fans.

Crawley later had a let off when substitute Paul Smyth got clean through but dragged his shot wide.

Substitute Kwesi Appiah forced Lawrence Vigouroux to save in stoppage time, but the O’s held on comfortably.