Stevenage hold on to win five-goal thriller against Leyton Orient

Stevenage held off a second-half Leyton Orient fightback to come away with a 3-2 victory.

An entertaining game at Brisbane Road left Boro top of the table at least until Saturday’s other fixtures are complete.

The game sprung into life with two goals in two minutes as Orient went ahead through Aaron Connolly on 24 minutes but Harvey White quickly responded with a shot from outside the box past Tommy Simkin.

Simkin almost gifted the visitors a goal right on half-time, when he let a Chem Campbell header slip out of his hands but was relieved to see the ball trickle off the post to safety.

The Orient shot-stopper was beaten by a Lewis Freestone header on 54 minutes to put Stevenage ahead and captain Carl Piergianni looked to have made the points secure when he converted from a 61st-minute corner.

However, Dom Ballard was first to a loose ball off the crossbar to direct home on 68 minutes. Connolly then put an effort wide deep into stoppage time, leaving a relieved Stevenage side with the win.