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| Southport's reserve keeper |
Ok, that's a bit harsh, for though this wasn't the Os' most coherent performance there were four quality goals and the outcome never looked in doubt, especially given that the visitors' three first-half injuries meant that club mascot Dave Stevenson had to get changed out of his birdie costume and go in goal for them.
Moment of magic... Elliot Omozusi's succession of stepovers as he attacked down the right wing in the second half, the most audacious case of showboating at Brisbane Road since George Porter bought himself a 150ft luxury yacht in anticipation of his big-money move to Real Madrid that still hasn't quite yet materialised.
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| Jimmy Smith: #fuming |
Moment of madness... The moment when Romain Vincelot - one yellow card away from a convenient suspension for the low-priority Johnstone's Paint Trophy game against Stevenage - kicked the ball away in an attempt to get himself booked. It was so lacking in subtlety he might as well have felt-tipped the words 'The referee is a c**t' across his face and be done with it. Interestingly a fuming Jimmy Smith once tried to do that very thing at half-time after being denied a clear penalty minutes earlier. Luckily for him he spelt 'referee' as 'rifurreey' so the officials were none the wiser.
Top gun... Omozusi and Clarke were as good as ever, and Dean Cox scored a belter, but Shaun Batt proved yet again that he's not nicknamed 'Battman' simply because of the time he turned up at training wearing his underpants over his trousers after a mix-up in his morning routine. The striker was a powerful presence throughout and took his goal with typical prowess.
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| Yohann Lasimant |
Little donkey... No one in the Orient squad can kill a ball stone dead like Yohan Lasimant. Then again no one else is quite as wasteful once they do have it under control. There is a very decent player lurking within the Frenchman, but at the moment his lack of end product makes him the footballing equivalent of a beautiful teenage girl who spends five hours applying make up, only to puke up into her own face after her first Bacardi Breezer.
In the dug out... Russell Slade took something of a gamble today - and not just by standing within 15ft of one of Brisbane Road's ear-bleeding loud-speakers. The manager chose to rest key players and give starts to the likes of Jake Larkins, Johnny Gorman, Frankie Sutherland and Yohann Lasimant. And the fact that his team won pretty convincingly gives hope that we can still compete at the top of League One even when the inevitable injuries hit as the the season wears on.
View from the opposition... "Lost 5-2 and played quite well," wrote Southport fan Jay Mobbs. "Best atmosphere in 13 years of supporting the club. Makes you proud to be a Sandgrounder." Yes, their fans and players were a credit to the club - and it's been a while since we've seen a conga in the North Stand. Respect.
Tweet of the week... Congratulations to Jake Larkins who made his senior debut for Orient today. And what can we learn about the young goalkeeper from his Twitter feed? Well, he believes "Made in Chelsea is so much better than towie." Well that's ruined his chance of pulling at Faces nightclub, Gants Hill. He's sensitive: "Surprise surprise has got me in tears." And he's easily agitated by long-established systems of classifying dates and times: "No way is Sunday the first day in the week :( so confused." Welcome Jake!
