Cooper and Doble were dropped and MacDonald injured. Baudry came in at centre back with Gregory and Molesley in midfield, leaving Thomas to plough a lone furrow up front. Molesley limped off after 90 seconds, which saw the reintroduction of Cooper in a new role, sweeping in front of the back four in a 4-1-4-1 formation. As on Saturday Bournemouth started brightly, with Thomas doing an excellent job of holding the ball up and bringing the midfield into play. Pugh was looking in the mood to make Orient pay for last season’s sprinkler incident, and in combination with the impressive Malone was giving the home side major problems down the left.
Bournemouth pressure eventually told when Thomas went down as he burst between two Orient defenders and the referee decided he had been tripped by Chorley, who was then lucky to escape without a card. Arter struck the penalty confidently to the keeper’s right. The lead was short-lived, Orient equalising with their next attack when the ball broke to Cox in the box and his shot took a big deflection which gave Flahavan no chance.
The setback didn’t change the pattern of the game with Bournemouth continuing to enjoy the bulk of possession and looking inventive in attack. A strong start to the second half saw Arter denied from long range by an acrobatic tip over from Alnwick. The decisive moment came ten minutes into the half when Cuthbert launched a scything knee-high challenge on Arter which left the referee with little option but to send him off. Orient reacted by replacing a striker with a defender, with Bradbury making the expected counter, withdrawing Gregory for an extra striker in Doble.
In contrast to so many occasions in the past, Bournemouth actually used the extra man rather well, helped by the natural width in the team, and Orient didn’t see much of the ball for long spells. Arter tested the keeper again from distance before the breakthrough eventually came with fifteen minutes to go. Cooper tried his luck from distance and was unlucky to see his effort come back of the underside of the bar, but Thomas reacted quicker than the defenders, controlling the rebound on his chest and steering it past the helpless Alnwick.
With ten minutes to go the game was made safe. Thomas burst through the defence again, an Orient defender made a great saving tackle, but the ball ran to the unmarked Pugh who swept it into the unguarded goal.
The home fans headed for an early exit as the game played out with Bournemouth knocking the ball round with ease against a demoralised looking Orient team to a chorus of “Mitchell, Mitchell on the pitch” from the away fans. Still 44 points from safety, but it’s a start.
Wes Thomas – very effective in the difficult lone striker role, major contribution to all three goals. Honourable mentions to Malone and Pugh.
AFCB: Flahavan, Purches, Barrett, Baudry, Malone, Gregory, Bryne, Arter, Molesley, Pugh, Thomas
Subs: Jalal, Cummings, Cooper (for Molesley, 2 mins), Doble (for Gregory, 61 mins), Fletcher (for Thomas, 89 mins)
Richie Barker, Leyton