Held to a draw at Walsall at the weekend, Orient hit the front through Ruel Sotirou, who latched on to a long pass from Theo Archibald and drilled a powerful shot past Richard O’Donnell after 18 minutes. Idris El Mizouni doubled the advantage 11 minutes later when he lashed the ball into the net following a Tom James free-kick.
Totally dominant in the first half, the Os were made to work hard for the points after the interval as Danny Lloyd netted with a fine effort into the far corner of the net in the 56th minute. Rochdale, who have won only five of their 31 fixtures this season, had renewed belief but they remain five points adrift of safety. Second-placed Stevenage lost more ground on the league leaders after twice squandering a lead to draw 2-2 at Newport, who claimed a vital point in their battle for Football League survival.
Stevenage, who have three games in hand on Orient, were ahead within three minutes thanks to Luke Norris but Omar Bogle levelled just before half-time. The visitors were back ahead after 50 minutes when Jordan Roberts volleyed home from close range but Bogle had the final say after being felled in the box in the closing stages. With six minutes remaining, he sent substitute goalkeeper Adam Przybek the wrong way to earn the Exiles a point.
Carlisle slumped to a shock 4-0 defeat at home to Mansfield. Goals from captain Ollie Clarke, Alfie Kilgour, Lucas Akins and Elliott Hewitt condemned Carlisle to back-to-back home defeats for the first time in a year at Brunton Park. Nigel Clough’s on-song side, now unbeaten in five games, cut the gap between themselves and third-place United to just three points with a potentially vital game in hand.
Carlisle remain in the final automatic promotion spot for now, though, with Northampton unable to take full advantage of the Cumbrians’ result following a 0-0 draw at home to AFC Wimbledon. Hartlepool’s Jamie Sterry had an unhappy return to former club Crewe after being shown a straight red card within the first quarter of an hour following a crude lunge on Rio Adebisi. Crewe took advantage with first-half goals from Callum Ainley and Ryan Finnigan sealing a 2-0 win over Pools, who drop into the relegation zone after Gillingham beat Grimsby 2-1.
Oliver Hawkins struck three minutes from time as Gills moved out of the bottom two after George Lapslie’s opener had been cancelled out by Grimsby’s Gavan Holohan. Jamie Walker and Andy Cook were on the scoresheet as Bradford stayed hot on the heels of the play-off places with a 2-0 victory over Tranmere. Substitute Matty Lund rescued a 1-1 draw for Salford against Harrogate, who had gone ahead through Jack Muldoon, while Kyle Wootton’s brace earned Stockport a 2-1 come-from-behind win over struggling Crawley after Jack Powell had put them in front.
Late goals from Lee Angol and Alistair Smith helped Sutton leapfrog Swindon in the table following a 2-1 win, with the Robins having taken an early lead through Charlie Austin. James Maxwell’s first-half strike made sure Doncaster edged out Barrow 1-0 while it finished goalless between Colchester and Walsall. Following the latest round of games, we have put together the best XI from Tuesday’s fixtures, using ratings from WhoScored. Take a look...