Orient Notts County: Magpies claim vital three points

Notts County won the relegation battle at Brisbane Road with a 3-2 away victory over fellow strugglers Leyton Orient.

A brace from Jon Stead and one from Jorge Grant proved decisive, with the hosts replying through Paul McCallum and Teddy Mezague.

Orient were forced to make an early substitution when central defender Tom Parkes was stretchered off with a hip injury problem after falling awkwardly just five minutes into the game causing a reshuffle in the O's back line.

County went ahead against the run of play in the 35th minute. The move was started by goalkeeper Adam Collin with a long clearance downfield. O's defender Mezague allowed the ball to bounce and Grant reacted quickly to curl a shot past Sam Sargeant into the bottom right corner.

The Magpies increased their lead on 47 minutes. Mark Yeates sent a ball over the top of the Orient defence and as Sargeant came to collect the ball, he was challenged by Stead and the ball looped into the net.

The O's reduced the deficit within a minute when McCallum headed home after Nigel Atangana's header had struck the crossbar.

The home side were back on level terms when central defender Mezague unleashed an unstoppable volley into the net from outside the penalty area with 10 minutes left but County were to have the last word.

On 84 minutes Marc Bola sent in a cross from the left and Stead drove the ball into the net to seal all three points.