A game in which... Orient, like a fat girl on a bungee jump, bounced back from their 5-0 defeat at Brighton with a fine performance, probably the best at Brisbane Road this season. Against a promotion-chasing team, the Os were committed, measured, intelligent and controlled the game for the vast majority of the 90 minutes.
Moment to savour... A goal by Jimmy Smith! The ex-Chelsea man has clocked up almost 2000 minutes of football this season, presumably because no one on the bench noticed he was playing in time to actually substitute him. Still, fair play to the midfielder, his deftly-executed looping header put Orient into the lead and in command of the game.
Head in hands moment... Dean Cox is a man of many talents - his ability to get away with a child fare on public transport, for example - but his decision to delicately chip the ball from outside the centre circle into his own penalty area with Colchester players rushing forward wasn’t one of his better moments.
King for a day... It’s been a while since Orient have had a consistently decent right-back (John Johnston apparently had a blinder of a season in 1910/11) but loanee Andrew Whing’s performance today was a masterclass in no-nonsense defending coupled with extreme gingerness. Chorley, Omozusi, Daniels and Smith also deserve credit.
Boo boy... Jamie Jones, to be honest, is a touch out of form, exemplified by a spill even BP would have trouble justifying that led to Colchester’s first goal. But remember this: no League One goalkeeper is going to go through a whole season without enduring some sort of nightmare-inducing catastrophe and Jones is the most consistent and talented keeper Orient have had for many years. No cause for alarm!
In the dug out... Big Russ's decision to leave M'Poku on the bench raised a few eyebrows, but the manager clearly got his tactics right on the day. Eagle-eyed West Standers will have noticed that Slade filled up two pages of notes over the 90 minutes, no doubt containing important directives such as, 'Must remind Springy to pass it forwards occasionally next time round.'
What would Martin Ling have done? Given Orient the shake-up it needed after the Brighton defeat by sending out exactly the same team, with exactly the same tactics but with the words 'try to play a bit better' ringing in their ears from his stirring, Churchillian pre-match team talk.
Going down? Not on the strength of this and other recent performances (ie not Brighton). And we're only six points off the play-offs. Enjoy it while it lasts!
