Mansfield Town 0 - 1 Leyton Orient
Coca-Cola League Two

MATT LOCKWOOD'S second half penalty fired Orient back into the top three on Saturday as they defeated Mansfield to record their tenth awayday success of the campaign.

The O's had their defensive mettle tested during a first half in which they were very much second best, but the hosts failed to make their dominance count and saw their play-off hopes all but evaporate with Lockwood's strike - his seventh of the season.

The Londoners will again reflect on their victory as a case of the points being more important than their peformance, taking advantage of Jake Buxton's foul inside the area to claim all three on a day when they failed to click going forward.

And with Grimsby only managing a draw in their game with Shrewsbury, Martin Ling's men also ensured they would grab the opportunity to steal a march on their automatic promotion rivals ahead of their Easter Monday showdown.

Mansfield's desire to attack at tempo was obvious from the off, although it was the O's who registered the first attempts on goal of the game.

Firstly, on 14 minutes, former Stag Wayne Corden saw a long-range effort drift wide of the goal after Matt Lockwood had laid off a free-kick for his winger 30 yards out.

And then, less than 60 seconds later, Gary Alexander retained possession excellently in the attacking third and fed Joe Keith, who ghosted past Buxton but couldn't beat veteran 'keeper Kevin Pressman with his low angled drive from the edge of the box.

But this was a rare example of Orient working the ball around a resolute Mansfield backline during a first half in which the visitors found themselves on the back foot.

Glyn Garner was called into meaningful action for the first time with 19 minutes on the clock when Corden was caught in possession near his own goal.

Adam Rundle nipped in and passed to Gus Uhlenbeek, whose 25-yard shot bounced into the O's stopper's grasp.

Mansfield looked to exert pressure on their visitors from wide positions and their left-winger, Rundle, almost found the key to unlocking Orient's defence on 25 when he collected Uhlenbeek's wayward ball on the by-line and hung up a cross that Richie Barker, in stretching to reach, could only knock over the top.

Orient were being hindered in attack by a lack of support for their strikers from midfield and, with Mansfield making better use of their possession, the pressure started to mount.

Barker and strike partner Danny Reet caused Orient problems with their mixture of power and pace, although the visitors did keep Garner well protected, displaying all the defensive qualities that have underpinned their recent good form.

Gabriel Zakuani limped out of the action 12 minutes before the break but Adam Tann slotted in seamlessly, and Mansfield were restricted to one more half chance before the break, Barker dropping a header wide of the post after Rundle had picked him out with a deep free-kick.

The pattern of defences being on top continued immediately after the break, although Orient came forward with a little more pace and began to pose questions of their own.

Mansfield, having failed to turn their first half dominance into goals, appeared slightly flat but were stung into action when Craig Easton's late tackle on Giles Coke provoked a pushing match in the centre circle.

Orient continued to probe without much success and at the other end, 17 minutes from time, Michael Simpson's error let in Barker for his third, and probably best, chance of the afternoon.

The former Rotherham striker ran goalwards but Lockwood jockeyed his man brilliantly, covering the square pass to Simon Brown and hurrying the shot, which, thankfully for Orient, flew over the bar.

Two minutes later the O's took advantage of their let off, seizing upon the only real defensive error committed by Mansfield all afternoon to grab the points.

Buxton was the man at fault, letting Corden's innocuous right wing centre bounce over his head before clumsily bringing down Donny Barnard in the box as he tried to retrieve the situation.

Referee Carl Boyeson awarded the penalty and Lockwood, as composed from the spot as ever, sent Pressman the wrong way with his low shot into the bottom left corner.

Orient were rarely troubled in protecting their slender advantage, but Garner caused away hearts to flutter in injury time when he came charging out for a ball that Tann had covered.

Former O's trialist Allan Russell missed the opportunity to benefit, however, lofting his shot well wide of the vacant net.

That proved to be the Stags last chance as Orient survived the four added minutes to give their automatic promotion push another vital shot in the arm and set them up perfectly for Monday's Grimsby clash.

by Leo Tyrie