Richie Wellens hails ‘little magic man’ Paul Smyth after superb solo goal

Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens admitted he was running out of superlatives to describe “little magic man” Paul Smyth after the forward’s brilliant goal earned victory over Salford.

The League Two leaders completed their third win in eight days to extend their advantage at the top to three points and with a game in hand over nearest challengers Stevenage.

The clash was decided by a magnificent 14th-minute goal from Smyth, who managed to find the back of the net from an acute angle after a solo run that included picking himself up off the ground at one stage.

That took the Northern Ireland international’s tally to the campaign to seven goals and left manager Wellens in awe.

Wellens said: “What can I say about Paul Smyth? I am running out of superlatives to describe him.

“I call him the ‘little magic man’. He has magic feet but he is the best in the world at when he falls over, getting up and still dribbling.

“He works so hard in training so fully deserves all the accolades that are coming his way.”

Despite the slender margin of victory, it proved a comfortable win for the O’s for whom Aaron Drinan struck the woodwork whilst Smyth and Theo Archibald were inches from adding to the goal count.

“I was proud of everything today,” Wellens added. “Not only the performance but the supporters were outstanding. It was a fantastic atmosphere in the ground and we should have scored more goals but overall it was a great day and the players have to take credit.

“The feeling at full-time was special.

“My only disappointment was it could have been more comfortable but they brought on two big lads at the end but I thought we defended well all game.

“That’s 10 clean sheets for us now and it’s the team that takes the credit. We work so hard and that’s the reason behind that.”

The defeat dropped Salford outside the play-off places on goal difference and manager Neil Wood admitted certain disappointments with his team’s performance.

“It’s always disappointing to lose a game but this is not an easy place to come,” he said.

“Orient are top of the league. They have a good team and a strong team, so it was always going to be a difficult day.

“What I think they have is match-winners and the goal they scored is a match-winner. We make one mistake and we’re punished where Smyth scores. I thought for the majority of the game we had kept him quiet.

“I expected them to have chances but I thought we could have been braver to get on the ball and play, so overall I am disappointed.

“I thought we created a bit of pressure at the end and got into good positions but twice the crosses end up into the goalkeepers hands and we need to get better at that.

“I keep saying it but we need to show it on the pitch.

“We are missing several players and that’s the positive that we have plenty of experience to come back into the team.”