Leyton Orient 5 Bristol Rovers 0 ORIENT climbed into the top half of the table as they scored five goals in a league game at home for the first time in more than four years, writes Trevor Davies. The victory was no more than the O s deserved as they turne

Leyton Orient 5 Bristol Rovers 0

ORIENT climbed into the top half of the table as they scored five goals in a league game at home for the first time in more than four years, writes Trevor Davies.

The victory was no more than the O's deserved as they turned in their best performance of the season to sweep away play-off chasing Bristol Rovers and complete a double over the Pirates.

Skipper Stephen Purches started the rout when he fired Orient ahead on 26 minutes with a deflected effort.

The impressive Ryan Jarvis, also with the aid of a deflection, added a second, before a Scott McGleish penalty rebounded off a post and into the net off Rovers keeper Mikkel Andersen.

Jason Demetriou and Jonathan T�hou� completed the rout as O's continued their unbeaten start to the New Year.

The win delighted manager Geraint Williams, who said: "We scored five and it could have been an awful lot more.

"We were magnificent tonight, not just in our attacking play to create the chances to score goals, but also defensively as well.

"We were solid at the back and dangerous going forward.

"It was a continuation of the second half at Carlisle, when we were creative with the ball and resilient and strong off it.

"We talked about putting that into a 90-minute performance and we did that tonight. The players are reaping the rewards for all the hard work they have been putting in.

"But we can't get carried away because we have got a massive game on Saturday."

Williams made one change to the side that started against Carlisle, with McGleish coming back to lead the attack in place of James Scowcroft and O's were on fire from the start.

Williams hopes to be able to extend the loan of Nicky Adams and he was a constant menace down the right as O's played some neat football and rarely gave the ball away.

Rovers were left chasing shadows as the home side knocked the ball about and after a great build up, Demetriou fired over following a cross by Adams.

The pace of Orient's wide men caused Rovers problems and Demetriou went close with a header from another Adams cross, before Purches had an effort tipped away by Andersen.

But the O's skipper, powering forward at every opportunity, was not to be denied and on 26 minutes he cut in and fired in a shot that deflected off Byron Anthony and into the net.

O's almost added a second before the break when Sean Thornton's shot was parried and Andersen bravely blocked McGleish's follow-up attempt and as the ball ran loose, Adam Chambers' effort was deflected for a corner.

After the break O's turned the screw. McGleish had a header superbly saved following Demetriou's cross, then the O's striker shot tamely wide after Demetriou and Adams combined.

But when Chambers crossed from the right on 51 minutes the livewire Jarvis smashed the ball into the net.

McGleish had another couple of chances before he was pushed in the area by Chris Lines following an Adams corner and referee Pat Miller pointed to the spot.

The veteran striker crashed the penalty against a post and the ball hit the diving Anderson and rebounded into the net. It was one of those nights.

Twenty minutes from time, Jarvis cut the visiting rearguard open with a ball to Demetriou, who out-paced the defence before finding a cool finish and in the 89th minute, T�hou� timed his run to perfection to meet Thornon's free kick and open his goal account for the club.

Not to be outdone, Jamie Jones made a spectacular save in stoppage time from Jo Kuffour to ensure O's kept a clean sheet.