RICHIE Wellens was critical of Swindon Town’s second half performance against Leyton Orient this afternoon, but took nothing away from his side’s first half dominance which led to a timely 3-1 victory in London.

A breathless opening half saw Wellens’ side score three goals courtesy of Keshi Anderson and Jerry Yates while Orient defender Joe Widdowson could only watch Rob Hunt’s cross on the stroke of half-time deflect off his back and into Dean Brill’s near post.

Arguably, it was the most dominant performance Town fans have witnessed in some time.

After a period of dominance at the start of the second half, which saw Eoin Doyle denied what would’ve been his sixth goal of the season, Ross Embleton’s side clicked into gear with 20 minutes remaining.

Substitutes Maguire-Drew, Gorman and Dennis all had a positive impact on the hosts’ performance – the former netting Orient’s only goal of the game with 16 minutes remaining.

Further chances were presented to Orient, but a dogged Town maintained their late two-goal advantage to record a pleasing three points.

But Wellens stated his men must be more brutal in front of goal should they find themselves in a similar position later on this season.

He added: “We weren’t brutal enough, we should’ve scored four or five.

“I’ve played in games where my team has been three goals up, and you expect a reaction from the opposition – that’s what Leyton Orient did.

“When Lloyd Isgrove hit the bar, it worked in Leyton Orient’s favour. Eoin Doyle then had a goal disallowed before Jordan Maguire-Drew scored.

“We were a bit too deep defensively in the second half, and you never win the first half three-nil and do the same in the second half.

“We looked a very good team in the first half, but the second we turned down opportunities to play forward.

“It was because we were three goals up – we didn’t want to put the game at risk. But I wanted to go for a fourth.”

Town’s three-goal advantage at half-time even took Wellens by surprise, who admitted after the game that he is a big fan of the way League Two’s only London-based club play.

Having watched Orient lose to Crawley and Mansfield, the Town boss expected a stiffer test to the one they faced in the game’s opening half.

He added: “I told the players on Friday that Leyton Orient are a good team - I like the way they play.

“I watched them against Crawley and against Mansfield. They leave three or four players up at times, so I was expecting goals.

“But they paid us some respect and changed their shape, which allowed us to dominate possession.

“It was a great day, we need to keep it going now and not get ahead of ourselves because we gave away too many chances at the end.”