THE SADDLERS slipped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Leyton Orient.

The first real action saw Steve Jones link up with Alex Nicholls to find Troy Deeney in a good position, but he was unable to capitalise upon the opportunity.

Straight away at the other end, Rene Gilmartin did well to spread himself and deny Jonathan Tehoue who was played in by an intelligent ball from Scott McGleish.

With ten minutes on the clock, Nicholls put pressure on home 'keeper, Glenn Morris who struggled to deal with a back-pass but eventually cleared.

Some good play out wide by Deeney saw him get the ball in from the by-line where Nicholls made his presence felt only for Tamika Mkandawire to clear the loose ball.

Both sides were cancelling each other out as the half progressed. A counter-attack by the home side on the half-hour mark ended with McGleish's effort being saved by Gilmartin as Jamie Vincent was on hand to clear the loose ball in front of goal.

Shortly afterwards, Charlie Daniels fired into the side-netting for The O's as Netan Sansara failed to clear.

Game becoming scrappy with passes going astray from both sides as the half ended goalless.

The second period started with some good build-up down the left by The Saddlers as Deeney's back-heel found Julian Gray who blazed over.

Leyton Orient got their noses in front on 63 minutes when some defensive hesitation allowed Aaron Doran to nip in and his effort was blocked by Gilmartin only for Sean Thornton to have the simple task of slotting the ball into the empty net.

With their tails up, the home side almost doubled their advantage when a teasing cross was headed back across goal, just beyond the reach of McGleish.

The second goal arrived on 73 minutes when Thornton was allowed to cut through the Walsall back-line before slipping the ball beyond the exposed Gilmartin to give Chris Hutchings' side a real mountain to climb.

Fresh legs were introduced with around quarter-of-an-hour to go as Alex Nicholls and Steve Jones were replaced by Darren Byfield and Peter Till respectively. There was a further change on 82 minutes as Mark Bradley replaced Josh O'Keefe.

On 85 minutes, substitute Ryan Jarvis made good progress on the left to beat Clayton McDonald and his cross almost brought an own goal out of Jamie Vincent.

A shooting chance opened up for McGleish in the final minute only for his powerful effort to fly narrowly wide of the target as The Saddlers went down to a disappointing defeat in the capital with the 178 travelling fans given little to cheer about.