Sutton United manager Paul Doswell wasn’t at all surprised his team came away from the Matchroom Stadium having been soundly beaten by Leyton Orient 4-1 on Saturday.

Orient, who were relegated from the Football League last season, have slipped to 20th in the Vanarama National League after a string of poor results and recently appointed former Gillingham boss Justin Edinburgh as their new manager in a bid to stop the rot.

Edinburgh's influence had the desired effect as two goals from Macauley Bonne and one each from Matt Harrold and James Dayton saw the O's crush the U's to emphatically register their first league victory in more than three months.

“Their players probably tried harder today than they have all season,” said Doswell.

“It didn’t surprise us that they’d be up for it today but they should have been up for it the previous 23 games. I thought Orient deserved their win.

“I think they need to take a long look at themselves because they’ve got two previous managers the sack. But today they actually put a shift in. So, well done to Justin because he’s got that group moving.”

The warning signs were there for Sutton as early as the seventh minute when Simon Walton rather clumsily brought down Dayton in the penalty area and Zimbabwean international Bonne stepped up to score from the spot.

Sutton hit back and Ross Lafayette should have levelled from seven yards but Orient goalkeeper Dean Brill made a fine save to protect his team’s slender lead. In truth, Lafayette should have buried the chance but probably took one touch too many.

Doswell’s side fell further behind in the 54th minute through Harrold who headed over Sutton goalkeeper Jamie Butler into the net.

With nine minutes left David Mooney’s deflected shot hit a post but Sutton’s reprieve was tempory as Bonne pounced on the rebound to lash the ball past Butler.

The only highlight for the 450-strong band of travelling Sutton supporters on a bitterly cold afternoon was another goal for young striker Tommy Wright with seven minutes remaining.

For the second consecutive Saturday, the substitute latched onto a headed flick from Lafayette before firing low into the net.

However, in virtually their next attack Orient restored their three-goal advantage when Dayton’s deflected shot sailed well wide of Butler before nestling in the net.

After praising Orient’s performance, Doswell gave a typically honest assessment of his own side’s display.

“We gave away an extremely soft penalty which gave them a leg-up for Justin’s first game back here and that got the crowd going,” said the Sutton boss.

“We gave away a soft free-kick for their second goal and when you’re 2-0 down you’re always going to be up against it.

“I thought for a 25-minute spell after they scored where we looked the better team. Ross [Lafayette] had a great opportunity to score and so has Tom Bolarinwa and at that point you thought we were going to get something out of the game but the second goal killed us.

“Our complaint was that, having got back into the game with 10 minutes to go – we know they’re fragile and low on confidence – we hoped to have a real go. But we were beaten by a side who had more energy than us and were better in both boxes than us.

"We weren’t ourselves today and some of that is down to how well Orient played.

"We’ve got Louis John coming back and Dean Beckwith is coming back. Tommy Wright was a real bright light again today and he is pushing himself into our thoughts after his virus.

"It was a great goal, great finish and he’s going to be a good, good player."

Despite the result, the U’s are second in the division as attentions turn to Saturday’s Buildbase FA Trophy first round showdown with National South high fliers Truro City at the Knights Community Stadium (kick-off 3pm).