Dagnall celebrates his first of two goals for Orient
Chris Dagnall scored twice in seven second-half minutes as Leyton Orient went back to the top of Skybet League One with a 2-1 win over Crewe Alexandra.
Byron Moore had put the hosts in front after 53 minutes at Gresty Road, but it was the former Scunthorpe and Rochdale man that made the headlines; he came off of the bench and scored twice on his début for the East London side.
The game started in a rather bitty manner, with Orient unable to get the ball down and play it, whilst the Railwaymen were unable to create an opening to really test Edin Jakupovic. When the chance did arrive, Moses Odubadjo was unable to take it for the O’s, heading wide from a Dean Cox cross when he really should have got it on target.
Orient then made the change that ultimately decided the game, replacing Robbie Simpson with Chris Dagnall, although it also has to be noted that more play come through former Brighton winger Cox in the second half for Orient. Simpson and Lisbie didn’t really click in the first half, with the communication between the front pairing not quite working. On the other hand, Dagnall thrived on his début off of the bench, causing Crewe’s back-line all sorts of problems.
However, that didn’t stop Crewe taking the lead. Orient had started the second half brightly but after several defensive mishaps, Chukus Aneke’s blocked shot found Byron Moore practically on the goal line to open the scoring with Orient waiting for an offside flag that never came.
This only served to wake up an Orient side that have now scored 56 league goals this season – 11 more than any other club. First, Dean Cox played a lovely ball over the top for Chris Dagnall on the hour mark, who finished emphatically past Ben Garratt to level the scores.
Seven minutes later, after quite a lot of confusion in the Crewe penalty area, Mathieu Baudry’s header laid it on a plate for Dagnall who slotted home to give Orient the decisive goal; it was just about deserved on the balance of play.
In response to going behind, the Railwaymen pushed forward in hope of getting a dramatic equaliser and they almost had it with a last minute shot from Aneke taking a deflection off of an Orient body and going agonisingly wide of the post.
However, Orient held on for their tenth league win on the road this season and moved to the top of the table. Meanwhile, Crewe remain two points adrift of safety, but slipped down to 23rd in Skybet League One.
Under The Floodlights 