4:50pm Monday 13th April 2009
By Anthony Marshall
TOWN suffered only their second defeat in seven games as Jason Demetriou's early strike kept them in the relegation dogfight.
The Orient midfielder found the top corner from 20 yards to give the visitors the perfect start on three minutes.
Swindon looked dangerous going forwards throughout and Billy Paynter, Anthony McNamee and Owain Tudur Jones all forced O's keeper Jamie Jones into saves.
But too often there was a lack of quality in the final ball as Town failed to break down a stubborn Orient rearguard.
Here are the key moments from today's game:
Three mins (GOAL 0-1 Demetriou): Orient take the lead with a superb strike in their first attack.
Paul Terry's inch-perfect ball over the top releases Wayne Gray and he feeds it to Jason Demetriou 20 yards out.
The midfielder takes a touch before firing a rocket past Phil Smith and into the top corner.
Seven mins: Anthony McNamee's high, hanging cross to the far post is met by Simon Cox, but he gets underneath the ball and can only nod over from a tight angle.
Nine mins: Hal Robson-Kanu collects the ball on the right flank and strides forward before cutting inside and hitting a weak effort from distance which is easy for Orient keeper Jamie Jones.
12 mins: McNamme's corner is met by a thumping Gordon Greer header seven yard out, but the captain's effort flies just the wrong side of the upright.
16 mins: Owain Tudur Jones curls a 25-yard free-kick towards the top corner and it looks to have put Swindon level until Jones somehow manages to tip it over the bar.
29 mins: McNamee is next to test Jones as he cuts in from the right and drills a low shot towards the near post, which the keeper does well to stop.
36 mins: Town pile the pressure on with a series of corners and attacks. McNamee whips a dangerous ball in from the left but Paynter, under pressure, can only angle his header wide.
53 mins: Swindon should be back all square. Robson-Kanu does brilliantly down the right before sending in a cross to the far post.
Paynter throws himself at it but somehow sends his header against the bar from around three yards, and it is scrambled to safety.
61 mins: Orient sub Jimmy Smith collects the ball 30 yards out and tries his luck from distance, but the shot is well off target.
75 mins: From 35 yards Charlie Daniels goes for a speculative low effort and his low, bouncing striker forces Town keeper Phil Smith into a good stop.
78 mins: Paynter chases a lost cause over the top and forces Stephen Purches into a mistake.
The front man plays in Cox and his shot strikes the near post before rebounding off Jones' back and agonisingly out for a corner.
84 minutes: Town start to throw men forward in search of an equaliser. Kevin Amankwaah's cross into the danger area is met by Cox, but he heads straight at Jones.
TOWN (4-4-2): Phil Smith; Kevin Amankwaah (Lescinel Jean-Francois 87), Jerel Ifil, Gordon Greer (c), Jamie Vincent (Jon-Paul McGovern 87); Hal Robson-Kanu, Owain Tudur Jones, Michael Timlin, Anthony McNamee (Lloyd Macklin 64); Simon Cox, Billy Paynter
Subs not used: Peter Brezovan, Craig Easton
ORIENT (4-4-2): Jamie Jones; Stephen Purches (c), Tamika Mkandawire, Jordan Spence, Charlie Daniels; JJ Melligan, Sean Thornton (Jimmy Smith 53), Paul Terry, Jason Demetriou; Scott McGleish (Simon Church 53), Wayne Gray
Subs not used: Glenn Morris, Brian Saah, Adam Boyd
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