League One: Leyton Orient 0 Colchester United 1

An own goal from defender Terrell Forbes was enough to send Orient crashing to their seventh home defeat of the season.

Former Colchester striker Kevin Lisbie had a couple of chances to put Orient ahead, but once Forbes turned a Karl Duguid cross into his own net on 28 minutes to give the visitors the lead, the home side rarely threatened.

After the game Orient boss Russell Slade admitted: “I thought there were some in and out performances today if I’m honest.

“I thought we started brightly enough and the first goal was going to be important in a tight game and so it proved in the end.

“Colchester defended well, but my concern is we need to create more and when we do we have to make more of those openings.”

Slade named the same starting 11 that had won at Preston last weekend.

But Ben Chorley returned to the bench after finishing a ban and fit again Adam Chicksen was named as a substitute in his final game before returning to MK Dons.

But there was no place for Cardiff midfielder Solomon Taiwo, who has joined on loan until the end of the season, as he was ruled out with a slight groin injury.

The home side should have opened the scoring on six minutes when Jimmy Smith played a neat ball into the path of Kevin Lisbie.

The former Colchester man raced clear of the visiting rearguard, but his shot was well blocked by visiting keeper Ben Williams.

Colchester responded after a quiet start and home keeper Lee Butcher did well to gather a effort low from Lloyd James.

As the home side started to take a grip, Lisbie had another chance to put one over his old club, but sent a header wide following a right-wing cross from Marc Laird.

Those misses proved costly, as it was Colchester who grabbed the lead, somewhat against the run of play, when Duguid’s excellent cross from the right hit Orient defender Forbes six yards out and cannoned into the net past a stranded Butcher on 28 minutes.

O’s struggled to respond and it was just three minutes before the break when they carved out a chance

It was that man Lisbie, the centre of attention in the first half, who went on a great wriggling run and appeared to have been brought down in the box by Magnus Okuonghae, but referee Mark Haywood waved away Orient’s appeals.

“I thought it was an absolute stonewall penalty. It’s a penalty every day of the week,” said Slade.

But it was the visitors who could have all but wrapped the game up at the start of the second half when Gavin Massey burst through, rounded keeper Butcher, but then fired against the post.

In a bid to get his side back in the game, Orient manager Slade made a double change on 64 minutes when he replaced Smith and Dean Mooney and threw George Porter and Jamie Cureton into the fray and it wasn’t long before the young winger started to make an impact.

He had only been on for eight minutes when he made a great run into the area and found Cureton, but the O’s striker failed to hit the target.

As O’s stepped up the pressure they almost grabbed a leveller following a frantic goalmouth scramble.

But as they threw men forward Colchester almost exploited the space at the back and James saw an effort tipped away by Butcher for a corner.

And in the end the visitors looked comfortable as they comfortably held on for victory.

Orient: *Butcher 7, Forbes5, Leacock 7, Cuthbert 6, McSweeney 6, Smith 6 (Porter 64 mins), Spring 6, Laird 6, Cox 6, Mooney 5 (Cureton 64 mins), Lisbie 6 (Tehoue 78 mins). Subs: Chorley, Chicksen.

Colchester United: Williams, Okuonghae, Izzet, Henderson, Eastman, Massey (Odejayi 75 mins), Wilson, Wordsworth, James, White, Duguid. Subs: Rose, Gillespie, Bond, Coker.

Attendance: 4,659 (inc 665 Colchester fans)

Referee: Mark Haywood.