Fulham were beaten on the final day of the season by Leyton Orient – but escaped relegation after Cardiff City were beaten by Bury.
After leading through Martin Pike’s effort midway through the first half, Fulham folded in the face of prolonged Leyton Orient pressure after the break. Terry Howard drew Orient level before Danny Carter lobbed Fulham goalkeeper Jim Stannard with eight minutes left to give the visitors all three points.
The home side began brightly enough with Clive Walker’s clever runs and intelligent reading of the game catching the eye. It was no surprise when one of Walker’s raids infield created the opening goal as the winger picked out Martin Pike in space but the left-back deserves all the credit for his superb 25-yarder that sailed past Paul Heald in the visiting goal. Gordon Davies should have made it two shortly before half time when he raced onto an excellent through ball from Jeff Eckhardt but missed a great one-on-one opportunity.
Fulham were punished for collapsing after Howard’s equaliser and there appeared to be only one winner. It was a surprise that Carter’s cheeky chip took so long to establish Orient’s superiority – and only two very good saves from Jim Stannard, who spread himself well to deny Kevin Nugent and Andy Sayer in quick succession prevented the O’s from recording a much more handsome victory.
FULHAM: Stannard; Eckhardt, G. Thomas, Nebbeling, Newson, Pike, Lewington (Skinner 60), Barnett, Walker (Marshall 75), Davies, Milton.
GOAL: Pike (35).
LEYTON ORIENT: Heald; Hales, Dickinson, Beesley, Day, Whitbread, Howard, Harvey, Nugent, Sayer, Carter,
GOALS: Howard (51), Carter (82).
REFEREE: Graham Pooley (Surrey).
ATTENDANCE: 7,141.
