Exeter City suffered a chastening 6-2 home defeat to Leyton Orient on Tuesday evening, as the play-off chasing visitors ran riot at St James Park.
Four first half goals had the three points done and dusted for Orient as Azeem Abdulai scored twice and Sean Clare and Dilan Markanday added further insult to injury. Millenic Alli pulled two back within ten minutes of the second half, but Abdulai completed his hat-trick before Jamie Donley inflicted a damaging sixth goal on the sorry City.
Gary Caldwell made five changes to the team that were beaten at the weekend, with Caleb Watts returning from injury, Ilmari Niskanen from the bench, and Cheick Diabate making his first League One start of the season, while Jack Aitchison and Ryan Woods also featured.
First Half
The visitors from London travelled to Devon in fine form, having won eight of their last ten league matches which has seen them rise to 7th in the league table, as well as setting up a tantalising FA Cup fourth round tie with Manchester City.
It was a difficult start for the Grecians, as Orient took the lead inside the opening five minutes through Abdulai. After an initial bright start from City, Orient’s number 47 found space in the area to beat Whitworth.
Within a minute, the same player had doubled the lead for the visitors as the Grecians were carved open from the right hand side. Abdulai was left in acres of space and had the simple task of slotting past the keeper.
Niskanen had the opportunity to pull City back into the contest before the tenth minute was up, but his back-post effort was too weak to trouble Josh Keeley from Alli's delivery. Aitchison then twisted and turned before firing his effort at the keeper as the Grecians huffed in the hope of reducing the deficit.
Sadly, the task was only to get harder before the clock had even hit 15 minutes, as Clare unleashed a powerful effort from distance which nestled in the top corner, off the woodwork to give City an almighty mountain to climb.
Things went from bad to worse on 34 minutes, as Orient put to bed even the faintest of hopes of a comeback when Markanday finished off a move that came from another City defensive lapse. He beat Whitworth from close range as the O’s picked up possession on the left and the ball squared to the goalscorer.
Second Half
Caldwell made two changes at the break as he introduced Brentford loanee Tony Yagone alongside Joel Colwill, and Yogane would have an instant impact as he delivered a sweet cross just a minute into the second half where Alli nodded home at the back post. Alli’s eighth league goal of the season had the Grecians on the scoresheet.
Stranger things have happened at SJP than an Exeter City comeback, and when Alli made it ten for the season soon as he headed in the Grecians’ second just five minutes later there was a sense that we were about to see a repeat of the crazy 4-4 draw with Crawley in December.
Orient had other ideas though and for all of the Grecians second half pressure, it looked like a fifth goal would kill the game off. With their first attack of the half, Orient surged forward and Abdulai completed his hat-trick with a neatly taken first time finish inside the penalty area from Jack Currie’s cross to add the visitors fifth goal.
It always felt like the scoring wasn’t done, however, and Orient added a sixth in style as Donley unleashed a ferocious volley into a ground which looped up and over Whitworth.
It was an evening where it couldn’t have gone worse for the Grecians, but Caldwell and his players must pick their heads up from the floor and move onto the next game, as they travel to Stevenage on Saturday in a 12.30pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports+.
City XI: Whitworth (GK), Niskanen, McMillan, Diabate, Francis, Watts (Mitchell), Richards (Yogane), Woods, Aitchison (Colwill), Alli, Magennis © (Bird).
Subs not used: MacDonald, James, Jones.
Goals: Alli 47’, 56’
Leyton Orient XI: Keeley (GK), Cooper, Currie, Donley, Pratley ©, Beckles (Happe), Galbraith, Kelman, Clare (Brown), Markanday (James), Abdulai.
Subs not used: Phillips, Sweeney, Jaiyesimi, Obiero.
Goals: Abdulai 5’, 7’, 64’, Clare 14’, Markanday 34’, Donley 78’
Yellow Cards: Galbraith, Beckles, Keeley
Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo
Attendance: 5,022 (251 away)