Second half goals from Mark Blake and Richard Carpenter clinched a vital win for Fulham at Leyton Orient in an entertaining London derby this afternoon.
Brisbane Road played host to an intriguing encounter with Orient eager for the bragging rights over their capital rivals, whilst Fulham sought to sustain their surprise promotion push. The Whites made most of the running but their attack was transformed by the return of top scorer Mike Conroy, who came off the bench for the last half an hour. It took until the final fifteen minutes for the visitors to make the breakthrough when the lively Darren Freeman was brought down by Mark Warren.
Centre back Blake stepped up to put Fulham in front from the spot and injured centre back Terry Angus, having led the signing in a quiet first half, enjoyed some raucous celebrations from the stands. Micky Adams’ side made sure of all three points two minutes from time when Richard Carpenter reacted quickest to fire Paul Brooker’s cross beyond Paul Hyde.
LEYTON ORIENT: Hyde; Shearer (Winston 75), Warren, Naylor, Channing; Chapman, Hodges (Ling 26), Wilkins; Griffiths, Baker (Arnott 81), McGleish.
BOOKED: Shearer, McGleish.
FULHAM: Walton; Lawrence, Watson, Cullip, Blake; Cusack, Carpenter, Morgan, Freeman (Brooker 84); Scott (Conroy 64), Warren (Thomas 78).
BOOKED: Lawrence, Cullip, Scott.
GOALS: Blake (pen 73), Carpenter (88).
ATTENDANCE: 7,125.
