By Declan McCarthy

Leyton Orient suffered another defeat in a game that should have seen them walk away with three points.

Morecambe, who came away with the three points, only had three attempts on goal in the first 45 minutes.

Orient controlled the game’s tempo and made use of the dangerous threat posed by Sandro Semedo and Gavin Massey but, like most of the season, Orient couldn’t find a way through to score.

Composed O’s

Leyton Orient’s major chance came in the 36th minute when Massey struck a shot from the edge of the box forcing Barry Roche to lunge high and dive to his right as the goalkeeper performed a brilliant save.

During most of the match, the O’s looked very composed, dealing with Morcaambe’s attacks with relative ease.

Morecambe’s scoring chances were limited and only Kevin Ellison and Paul Mullin looked threatening. However, most attacking plays by the Shrimps were dealt with in a very competent manner by Orient’s back four on the night.

Morecambe, unbeaten in five games now following this win at Leyton Orient, showed a charismatic performance in the second half and were rewarded when Paul Mullin’s strike flew into the top corner of the net.

Relegation Calling

Morecambe manager, Jim Bently demanded his players kept things tight and that they did. Orient were left hopeless and failed to score in a league match for the 11th time this season.

In the final stages of the match, Orient pushed for an equalizer, but the lack of power up front showed and Orient drew a blank.

Orient wasted several chances over the course of the match. The defeat means the O’s have lost six consecutive games, leaving them with no points in 2017 and firmly in a relegation place.

Teams:

Leyton Orient XI :  24- Sam Sargeant (GK); 6- Tom Parkes; 7- Michael Collins; 11- Gavin Massey; 15- Nigel Atangana; 16- Nicky Hunt ( C ); 22- Sandro Semedo; 26- Victor Adeboyejo; 29- Myles Judd; 30- Sam Dalby; 37- Yvan Erichot

Subs: 12- Charlie Grainger (GK); 4- Liam Kelly; 14- Sammy Moore; 19- Teddy Mezague; 20- Rowan Liburd; 28- Josh Koroma; 34- Michael Clark

Substitutions: 77’ – Rowan Liburd on for Sam Dalby;   90’ – Liam Kelly on for Michael Collins;   90’ – Josh Koroma on for Victor Adeboyejo

Yellow Cards: 72’ Sandro Semedo; 82’ Michael Collins

Morecambe XI: 1- Barry Roche (GK); 5- Ryan Edwards; 6- Dean Winnard; 7- Paul Mullin; 8- Peter Murphy ( C ); 10- Lee Molyneux; 11- Kevin Ellison; 15- Aaron Wildig; 16- Alex Whitmore; 19- Michael Duckworth; 24- Michael Rose

Subs: 12- Da Nizic (GK); 2- Liam Wakefield; 3- Aaron McGowan; 4- Alex Kenyon; 14- Luke Conlan; 18- Rhys Turner; 21- Anthony Evans

Substitutions: 65’ – Rhys Turner on for Lee Molyneux;  75’ – Alex Kenyon on for Michael Rose;   81’ Aaron McGowan on for Paul Mullin

Yellow Cards: 74’ Paul Mullin; 83’ Aaron McGowan

Goals: 72’ Paul Mullin

 

Match Officials:

Referee: John Brooks

Assistant Referees: Graham Kane and Louis Marks

Fourth Official: Ian Cooper

Match Attendance: 2,660 (58 Away)