Paul Warne delighted as Derby defeat 10-man Leyton Orient

Posted Sunday, December 10, 2023 by PA

Paul Warne could not contain his delight after watching his Derby side complete a comfortable 3-0 League One win at 10-man Leyton Orient, their first victory at Brisbane Road since the 1964-65 season.

The Rams had gone ahead in the first half with a sublime strike from Louie Sibley before Orient defender Brandon Cooper was sent off for elbowing James Collins.

After the interval, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and substitute Tom Barkhuizen netted one apiece to earn the visitors their fifth-successive league win as they moved up a spot to fifth.

“Obviously I’m very pleased,” Warne said. “We’re in it to win games of course and it’s good to see the lads in good fettle.

“They are good friends on and off the pitch and I think the team plays better when you have that in the dressing room. We have real confidence and you need that to win games and I thought we were handsome for the win.

“It was a really good day at the office. We could have played better in parts of the game but it’s all about winning so when you come away from home and keep a clean sheet and win then I don’t think you can have too many complaints as a manager.

“I liked the fact we won the game, scored three goals and created lots of chances.

“Our third one was a counter-attack from their corner and I enjoyed seeing six of my players running like the wind to get on the end of it. We were pretty solid and energetic but to be successful we need to be striving to the next level.

Orient coach Matt Harrold reflected: “I thought that we started the game great and things happened in the first 10 minutes which we worked on in training where we were on the front foot and everything was OK.

“But then they score a goal – probably against the run of play – and at the minute things are going against us and so it’s kind of where we are at the moment.

“Last week we were poor at Chesterfield but I thought we put on a good performance today but we’re giving ourselves a mountain to climb by conceding a goal and then losing a player to a red card which has a big bearing on the result.

“At two-nil down, we score one but have it ruled out for offside and then Derby score a third where we just not good enough and it’s those details against good teams where we have to be much, much better.”

Harrold had no complaints about the dismissal of Cooper.

“At the time I wasn’t sure as my view was the other side but having watched our red card again, I don’t think we can have any complaints and it doesn’t look good on the video,” he admitted.