Omar Beckles bags brace as 10-man Leyton Orient edge victory at Swindon

Swindon’s play-off hopes were handed a damaging blow as centre-back Omar Beckles scored either side of the break as 10-man Leyton Orient celebrated a 2-1 League Two victory in Wiltshire.

On-loan Charlton striker Josh Davison pulled a goal back with a late strike but the visitors held on for maximum points.

A first half with few chances saw Beckles score against the run of play midway through, rising highest in the box to connect with Theo Archibald’s free-kick.

Hector Kyprianou hampered Orient’s bright start as he was shown a second yellow card by referee Sam Allison just minutes later for bringing down Louie Barry.

Tempers threatened to boil over 10 minutes before half-time with an on-pitch scuffle involving players and managers resulting in six yellow cards being shown, including one to former Swindon – now Orient – boss Richie Wellens.

The away side doubled their advantage at the start of the second half through Beckles as he stabbed the ball past Joe Wollacott to score his second goal of the afternoon.

Davison reduced the deficit with a close-range strike in the 77th minute but, despite their late aerial bombardment, Swindon lacked the required end product to take anything from the game.