Leyton Orient 1
Stevenage 0
League (League One)

Match report written by Neil Metcalfe, The Comet

A slow start and a lot of huff and puff meant Stevenage got nothing from their trip to Leyton Orient.

Charlie Kelman nodded the O's into an early first-half lead and at that time it seem the home side would run away with it.

But Boro did rally, even it became apparent with 20 minutes to go that they were not going to get anything.

And so it proved, Orient taking the 1-0 win to bolster their League One play-off push, while Boro still sit firmly in mid-table.

The injured picked up by Nick Freeman at Reading in their last outing kept him out of this one, but there was some good news with the return of Luther Wildin from his own injury troubles.

And that was the only change. Dan Phillips' suspension meant he was also unavailable, but his two games in the Gold Cup for Trinidad & Tobago against Cuba would have likely restricted his game time anyway.

A period of 12 days without a game could have been good for Boro. A bit of rest before getting back into it.

It still might well have been, but the first 25 minutes did not equate to anything productive.

And it was Orient who were running things with too much ease, taking the lead on 12 minutes.

They had already won three corners but hadn't bothered putting them directly into the box.

This time they did and when it drifted out to the far side, Sean Clare delivered it back into the middle for Kelman to glance into the corner.

It was a simple goal from the hosts' point of view and they were finding everything else simple too, winning first and second balls and easily spurning any Boro attempts to go forward.

Something had to give and it did eventually, Boro finally managing to string a couple of passes together.

Their best chance came from a free-kick out on the right. It was played to the back post and when it was partly cleared, it landed at the feet of Dan Kemp.

His low shot though was blocked.

Kemp had raced clear when Murphy Cooper claimed another corner and throw an instant pass forward.

He had to check back as Dilan Markanday tracked him back, and then an attempted flick went horribly wrong.

Brandon Hanlan couldn't get onto the end of a Charlie Goode flick on as Boro forced a series of corners but even though it was better, it still felt like they were knocking on the door without taking their hands out of their pockets.

Lots of head bashing and noise making without any real problem to the door.

Half-time arrived though with just the one goal deficit and you felt that a bit more precision in their passes, and a slight increase in the speed and intensity of their game, could make a difference.

There did appear to be a switch in tactics after the interval. It may not have been a definitive move to a front two but Hanlan and Jamie Reid were playing a lot closer up top.

It brought a good spell of pressure although without anything too substantial. That was until Clare undercooked a back pass and Kemp pounced on it.

The problem was the attacking midfielder seemed caught in two minds. It did initially appear that he could shoot but that quickly disappeared, leaving the only option to pass to the unmarked Reid in the middle.

In the end it was neither one thing nor the other, running in between goal and striker.

Changes came on both sides but it was still Boro who were trying to chase the game and testing the home defence.

But they never really brought anything approaching a needed save from Josh Keeley, the keeper dealing with a looping header from Reid and a deflected Eli King effort.

That did at least change in the 90th minute, the first stop vital as Harvey White found a bit of space in the box to latch onto a cross.

That was batted away and then a Jake Young effort was hit low but close enough to him to get down and smother.

Seven added minutes gave some hope and there was the dight of Dan Sweeney thrown on as a striker.

Elliott List had the final attempt as he and Carl Piergianni went for the same dropping ball.

The volley was heading to the corner but was close enough for Keeley to gather and seal the win.