Orient were unable to atone for their FA Cup loss on Saturday as they lost 2-0 away against AFC Wimbledon.
First half goals from Assal and Pell were enough for a home win in a feisty contest at Plough Lane in which nine yellow cards were issued. Ayoub Assal opened the scoring after 19 minutes as his shot from the corner of the area deflected past Vigoroux into the corner. Wimbledon doubled their lead with ten minutes to go until half time courtesy of a sublime finish into the top right hand corner from Harry Pell.
The O’s had much of the ball in the first half and dictated proceedings but failed to create any real openings. However, they started the second half stronger as a Theo Archibald shot was headed off the line by Chris Gunter. The Wombles nearly had a third as Ethan Chislett’s free kick was astonishingly glanced onto the post by Vigoroux in what was a tremendous save. Substitute Jordan Brown looked to have pulled one back for the visitors late on.
But it was ruled out as it appeared to take a deflection off Paul Smyth on the way through, who was in an offside position. This capped off a frustrating night for the league leaders who suffer their first away loss in the league this season. Wimbledon, despite the win, stay 15 th , but have now taken 10 points from their last four games.
Orient stay top but missed out on a chance to extend the gap to Stevenage to six points. Richie Wellens’ side have the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways as they travel to 21 st place Harrogate on Saturday while the Dons head to Salford who are 8th .