Matt Harrold was thrilled to see Leyton Orient finish “in a really positive spot” after a 3-1 victory over Shrewsbury Town.
Victory clinched a top-half finish for the O’s in their first season back in the third division, with them finishing 11th following the last round of games.
Orient’s goals were scored by Daniel Adu-Adjei, Ethan Galbraith, and Daniel Agyei, and first-team coach Harrold was pleased with their performance.
He stated, I couldn’t have asked for much more. It was a very strong performance.
One thing I wanted was to go out, look like a team, and play for the supporters who have travelled a long distance and journeyed with you all season, and you can’t ask for much else.
I believe we could have scored more goals than we did, so they are excited about what I have requested of them.
It was unbelievable, I was really proud, and it’s a great moment for me personally to conclude like way.
I believe the season has been quite successful. I believe the manager [Richie Wellens] has maximised everyone in the group, and we have finished in a really strong position.
I believe there is always some aspect of ‘what if’, but you end up where you end up sometimes.
I found the game exciting. We appeared to be a big threat on the break.
We definitely changed shape, which was unique given the folks, and it worked beautifully.
The visitors made a quick start, opening the scoring after eight minutes when Agyei crossed the ball across the box for Adu-Adjei to tap in at the back post.
Orient extended their lead midway through the first quarter, with Galbraith scoring one-on-one with onrushing custodian Marko Marosi and putting the ball into the bottom corner.
Early in the second half, number three came on the counterattack, with Agyei bursting into the box and shooting home.
Shrewsbury equalised on 76 minutes when Elliott Bennett’s floating ball was headed in at the near post by Dan Udoh, but the goal was again denied late on by a great stop by Dan Howes.
However, a comeback was unlikely.
Shrewsbury manager Paul Hurst said: “I think the hard work was obviously done in the weeks preceding last week’s draw at Charlton.
The players were not at their best in the first period.
Tactically, we wanted to remain with how we had been the previous few games, but that wasn’t working either, so I’ll accept some responsibility for that.
Overall, we performed significantly better in the second half. I’m not sure what occurred with their third, but he seemed to have a lot of space.
In the end, as foolish as it was for how the first half had gone, we arguably should have gotten something out of the game.
