Leyton Orient seal narrow win over Cheltenham Town following emotional Justin Edinburgh tributes

Wright, the last signing made by Edinburgh, scored the game's only goal.
PA

Josh Wright scored the only goal of the game as Leyton Orient beat Cheltenham Town in the O’s first match since the death of Justin Edinburgh.

It was an emotional affair at Brisbane Road as before the match Cheltenham and Orient fans united to pay their respects to Edinburgh, who died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 49 in June.

Before that Edinburgh had guided the club back to League Two and they marked their return on Saturday with a 1-0 win, which Cheltenham ended with nine men after having Luke Varney and Rohan Ince sent off.

Fittingly it was Wright, the last signing made by Edinburgh, who got the only goal of the game in the 68th minute.

Orient and Cheltenham fans paid tribute to Edinburgh on Saturday.
PA

It sparked wild celebrations as the midfielder pointed to the sky, before holding an Leyton Orient shirt with ‘Edinburgh 3’ aloft on an afternoon that will live long in the memory at Brisbane Road.

Long before that emotional winner it had actually been Cheltenham who had started the brightest. Long throws from their defender Ben Tozer were causing problems and Will Boyce twice went close with headers inside the first 10 minutes.

Cheltenham striker Varney was also given his first booking for diving as part of the visitors’ fast start when his calls for a penalty were waved away by referee Michael Salisbury.

It looked like Varney had every right to protest, especially as Orient goalkeeper Dean Brill, who had brought him down, was substituted six minutes later with a head injury seemingly picked up from the incident.

However after their shaky start Orient began to settle and forwards Conor Wilkinson and Lee Angol looked particularly threatening in what was otherwise a quiet first-half.

Indeed it was the link-up play between the duo that had Orient thinking they were going into the break 1-0 up with just three minutes left.

Angol played a one-two with Wilkinson on the edge of the box but, when he lashed the ball home, his celebrations were cut short by the linesman flagging for offside.

In a game of few chances, you wondered if that had been Orient’s moment and it had passed them by.

However, they got the goal the whole of Brisbane Road was craving in the 68th minute when Wright struck.

It was hardly a classic, with the ball fortuitously falling to him when Wilkinson’s shot was blocked, but nobody cared.

Wright slotted the ball home and ran off in delight, pointing to the sky before grabbing an Orient shirt from the bench.

On the back of it was ‘Edinburgh 3’ and Wright held it aloft in front of the stands as Brisbane Road erupted.

Now everyone was just wishing for Orient to hold out and their task was made easier when, in a matter minutes, Cheltenham were down to nine men.

First, Varney was shown a second yellow card for a stray elbow and then moments later Ince was given a straight red for what appeared to be dissent.

That put Orient in the driving seat and they almost wrapped up the win with just over 10 minutes to go, but Scott Flinders somehow tipped Josh Coulson’s header onto the bar.

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