Hearn: O's will enjoy Vegas

Chairman Barry Hearn insists Leyton Orient will still have the party of all parties in Las Vegas, despite losing the play-off final.

Orient were beaten 4-3 on penalties by Rotherham in Sunday's play-off final, after an absorbing 120 minutes finished 2-2, meaning their wait for second-tier football will go beyond 32 years. Although they had a magnificent year, it ended up a season where they could just not get over the line. After a record-breaking start to the term, winning their first eight games, they led the League One table for 22 weeks before having to settle for the play-offs. Then in Sunday's final they led 2-0 at half-time and had one foot in the Championship, before the Millers hit back and forced extra-time and penalties. And then they even had the advantage in the shootout after Jamie Jones saved Lee Frecklington's effort, but Mathieu Baudry and Chris Dagnall missed and allowed Rotherham to go up. Hearn said it just was not meant to be, but will still celebrate a fine season. "We led on penalties and it looked like we had a chance but it just wasn't meant to be," he said. "Sometimes you just have to look upstairs and say the man upstairs decided something different and I am not going to go against him, I'll just have to take it on the chin. "The players are down, but they'll realise that they've had a great year. We'll all go to Vegas and have a great party. We will do it the Leyton Orient way, with people having a go at us. "It's the biggest celebration of the year, we're going to have a party. "You've seen the movie Hangover. It's not going to be pretty and after Wembley it might be less pretty than we thought." Once they return from Vegas, Russell Slade will plot to launch another promotion challenge next season and Hearn believes they have the squad capable of doing it. "I have got a great manager, a great squad, most of them are under contract, we'll go again. We had a fantastic season. "Congratulations to them, we are all gutted of course, I wouldn't be human if I wasn't. "For us it's disappointing, I sense a numbness more than anything else. We're still in League One, but we're still the mighty Orient, we had a great day. "We will rub ourselves down and start for next season, what else can we do?"