Leyton Orient 2 - Blues 3

Steve Bruce made wholesale change to the Blues side - eight in total - with only Jeff Kenna, Darren Purse and John of this seasons regular starters actually on the pitch at kick off. Ian Bennett came in, as did fully fit Steve Vickers. Darryl Powell and Jovan Kirovski were both given their first starts for the club, whilst Stan Lazaridis and Curtis Woodhouse were also given their first starts of the season. Geoff Horsfield also came in up front. The most interesting change, however, was 17 year old Matt Sadler coming in for his senior debut at left back - the England Youth International replacing Darren Carter. Young striker Craig Fagan also made the bench.

Orient started the game with a high tempo approach which appeared to unsettle Blues, and for 10 minutes or so looked the better team. However, Powell began to stamp his authority on the midfield, and Lazaridis started to get at the Orient defence, whose only ploy to stop him was to get in front of him and obstruct him. On 16 minutes though, such a ploy failed as Lazaridis dissected the home side's defence, before slotting in a lovely through ball that John dispatched past advancing keeper Glenn Morris.

Just 10 minutes later it was 2-0, following more good work from Lazaridis, who played in Horsfield whose cross/shot was rolling across the face of the goal until John tapped home for his second of the night, and to really kick-start what the travelling 600 or so Blues fans hoped would be something of a romp. Blues continued to press for a third prior to half time, with Lazaridis and the confident Sadler attacking down the left flank at every opportunity, and Powell running things in the centre. Half time came, and 2-0 was a fair reflection of the game.

Blues started the second half slowly, appearing to shift down a couple of gears, and allowing Orient to build up momentum. On the hour mark, such momentum was rewarded when the impressive Matthew Brazier crossed for Kevin Nugent to head home via the underside of Bennett's crossbar. Orient suddenly sensed a shift in the flow of the game, and started to hit long balls at Nugent and Lee Thorpe who began to give Vickers and ex-Orient captain Purse all sorts of problems in the air.

However, it seemed Blues had finally killed the game off after 77 minutes when John completed his hat-trick, following another assist from Lazaridis. The Australian winger got to the byline and drove the ball across the face of the goal, and John was on hand to again tap home whilst running in to complete his first treble strike for Blues. Immediately the hat-trick hero was replaced by youngster Fagan, earning his debut.

The game was not quite over yet though, as just 5 minutes later, Orient substitute Jabo Ibehre was on hand to roll the ball into an empty net follwoing confusion in the Blues defence, and make for a testing final few minutes for the visitors, who managed to hold on for what they will hope is the first of two victories in East London within 4 days.

Whilst not the most impressive of performances, the Blues side got the desired result, and importantly Bruce got to run the rule over a number of fringe players. Sadler made a highly competent debut for someone of such a tender age, showing verve going forward, and also coming up against a tricky opponent in Jamal Campbell-Ryce who will cause many a left-back problems in the Third Division this season. Fagan too looked lively in his fleeting appearance, whilst the faultless return of Vickers will also give Bruce cause for optimism. Possibly the most impressive performance, however, was that of Powell, who was strong, composed and highly effective in the central midfield role that he may well have to occupy sooner rather than later should messrs Cisse and Savage continue to tot up the yellow cards.

PLAYER RATINGS:
Bennett - Ok, but some poor kicking
Kenna - Adequate
Sadler - Very promising debut
Purse - Too cocky at times
Vickers - Composed
Kirovski - A little lost on the right
Lazaridis - Frustrating at times, but created all three goals
Powell - Excellent
Woodhouse - Good first half, tired in the second
John - Morale boosting hat-trick
Horsfield - Strong

SUBS:
Johnson - Quiet
Fagan - Lively