Orient beat Barrow to ease relegation fears

Leyton Orient eased their League Two relegation worries to run out 2-0 winners over lowly Barrow, who had Phil Brown in charge for the first time.

An error-strewn first half offered both teams goal opportunities.

Adam Rooney and Robbie Gotts both had efforts well-saved by Lawrence Vigouroux but it was the hosts’ Ruel Sotiriou who came closest to breaking the deadlock.

The striker struck the crossbar with a 20-yard free-kick after 33 minutes and then had a close-range header tipped over by goalkeeper Paul Farman.

But Farman was beaten after 52 minutes by Paul Smyth, who was faster than the Bluebirds goalkeeper in a race to collect a Connor Wood pass before turning the ball into the net from an acute angle.

The dangerous Sotiriou finally got his reward after 62 minutes when he met a free-kick and drove a shot low into the bottom corner of the net for his sixth goal in seven matches.

From thereon, the home side totally dominated the match and – as a result – collected their third-successive win to leave Barrow just six points above the drop zone.