Colchester United taste a first home defeat of the season with Leyton Orient running out 3-1 winners at the JobServe Community Stadium.
Colchester looked to carry their momentum forward following the victory over Bradford, but Leyton Orient took an early lead with Luke Chambers turning the ball into his own net.
The U’s tried to respond but could not find any quality in the final third, and the visitors eventually extended their lead late in the second half. Theo Archibald was on hand to thump the ball past Hornby and double their lead.
Despite a rally in the final ten minutes, Orient struck again in the nintieth minute with Charlie Kelman slotting home.
Noah Chilvers scored a consolation for the U’s in injury time, but the visitors proved too much in this one and took home all three points.
Wayne Brown will have no time to dwell on the defeat, with Premier League Brentford visiting the Jobserve Community Stadium in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Orient came out guns blazing, with Wellens clearly instructing his team to play on the front foot.
But the first chances of the game came for the U’s. First, a great ball over the top from Tom Eastman set Freddie Sears away. The striker looked to play the ball across the box to Alex Newby, but an Orient defender got in the way to block the cross.
Immediately after, Luke Hannant won the ball in a dangerous area and drove into the opposition’s penalty box, his pass into Cameron Coxe was met well but Lawrence Vigouroux was equal to the shot and palmed the danger away.
Colchester continued their good start with a flurry of half chances; including a decent ball that fell to Chambers in the box, but the skipper could not direct his header towards goal.
After sixteen minutes, Orient opened the scoring. With their first real attack of the game, Paul Smyth was released down the right-hand side. He powered past Al-Amin Kazeem before pulling the ball back into a dangerous area, where Chambers could only turn it into his own net, with Kelman lurking at the back post.
The goal seemed to awaken the visitors who continued to push following their opener. Smyth continued to have joy down the right flank, with the U’s allowing Orient the space to play in midfield.
The game settled down as we approached the half hour mark, both teams were exchanging possession, with Orient having a few attempts, nothing Sam Hornby could not handle.
Orient continued to dominate in midfield, Idris El Mizouni was able to stroll through the middle of the park before teeing up Kelman, who blasted his effort over the bar.
Coxe had a good effort five minutes before half time, but his left-footed shot just glazed over the bar. Despite a late burst of urgency from the U’s, they were not able to convert and headed in a goal down at half-time.
No changes from either side as the second half got underway, and the U’s were straight onto the front foot. Another glorious ball into the box from Hannant was just an inch too far in front of Sears, who could only poke the ball wide from six yards.
Orient were looking to run down the clock as much as possible in the second half, with the referee having to warn multiple players for taking their time in breaks of play.
Little more offered itself to the U’s in the opening quarter, but one positive was that Frank Nouble was beginning to grow into the game – he started to exploit the space in the left channel, but his final ball could not quite find a blue and white shirt.
Orient, despite their slow play, still looked dangerous, Darren Pratley had a long-range effort saved by Hornby whilst the U’s attempted to win the midfield battle through the introduction of Cole Skuse.
However, the visitors struck a fatal blow at the Jobserve Community Stadium with just fourteen minutes left to play.
Smyth found space and drove into the box, before firing across to Theo Archibald, who drilled the ball home to double the O’s advantage.
Wayne Brown wrung the changes following the second goal, with both John Akinde and Junior Tchamadeu entering the fray as the hosts looked to make a dent in Orient’s advantage.
However, the Orient continued to dominate and substitute Jordan Brown struck a fizzing effort from thirty yards that just shaved the post.
The U’s thought they had scored after a lovely flick from Akinde put Sears through, the striker flicked the ball over the keeper, but the linesman deemed the ball not fully over the line, and it remained 2-0.
Orient finished the game off in the nintieth minute, with Kelman curling the ball low past Hornby.
Chilvers scored in the final minute to make it 1-3, nodding in from close range, but it was not enough to salvage anything from the game, as Orient ran away winners.
Colchester XI: Hornby, Chambers, Hannant (Skuse), Sears, Chilvers, Eastman, Newby, Coxe (Tchamadeu), Kazeem, Marshall-Miranda (Akinde), Nouble
Subs: O’Hara, Clampin, Dallison, Skuse, Tchamadeu, Akinde, Tovide
Leyton Orient XI: Vigouroux, James (Thompson), Happe, Smyth (Sotiriou), Archibald, Moncur, Mizouni, Pratley (Brown), Beckles, Kelman, Hunt
Subs: Sargeant, Ogie, Thompson, Smith, Sotiriou, Brown, Sweeney