Another fantastic result and I think we just about deserved the victory in the end. Orient controlled possession for long periods, but created very little until the last five minutes when Smith forced a good save from Doohan and spurned another chances. By contrast, we had three or four good opportunities over the ninety minutes in addition to the goal, with Hawkes the main creator.
I thought the first ten to fifteen minutes were excellent, with Jolley again looking lively and causing their defence real problems. A couple of crosses flashed across the box which could easily have been tapped home. We then lost our way for twenty minutes, with Orient dominating the ball, but we defended well and restricted them to half chances. The main problem in this period was that we turned possession over far too quickly, moving the ball from front to back every time rather than building through midfield. I think the defence and midfield took the instruction to hit the two strikers early far too literally.
The second half was better, as we were more compact and looked the more dangerous side until the closing stages.
Individually, I agreed with the sponsors that Morris had another good game, but I thought Hawkes was man of the match. He was the real creative spark today and our best chances were created by him. However, Doohan and the back four were also excellent. Ross did not have to make a serious save until the 85th minute but his handling was very good, and we look far more assured with a centre back pairing of Clarke and Davies.
Up to fifth place in the league, one point off the automatic places with a game in hand. A fantastic position, and it is just a pity our winning run is likely to be disrupted by Covid.
