Leyton O 2-1 Notts County

Notts County's amazing unbeaten away run came to an end at the Matchroom Stadium as the Pies were beaten 2-1 by Leyton Orient, in a frustrating afternoon which saw goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski carried off on a stretcher. The defeat deprived Notts of a 23rd consecutive unbeaten away game, and handed Keith Curle his first ever away loss. Unchanged from the impressive 1-0 win against Oldham, the Pies looked to make it back-to-back wins for the first time since November, and found themselves under pressure from the start, Lee Cook firing wide from a David Mooney cross.

The first Notts chance fell to Neal Bishop, who, after great work from Jeff Hughes, found his attempt blocked by O's midfielder Lloyd James, JCR not being able to follow it up, while at the other end, the unmarked Mooney sliced it wide after a good Gary Liddle invervention.

Then came the main talking point of the match: as MacDonald came towards the Notts goal, Bialkowski rushed out to make a save, but the Orient forward caught the keeper on the head as he tried to take the ball around him.

Six minutes of treatment and a yellow card for MacDonald later, Bart was taken off on a stretcher, and the highly rated but untested Fabian Speiss came on in his place.

Not long after the restart, some great work by Bish tested the O's defence, first with a low cross which couldn't quite find Showunmi and Arquin, then by winning a corner which saw Hughes' shot blocked and Sheehan fire wide.

Shortly afterwards, Speiss was tested for the first time in the game, a fine reaction save denying Cook, before former Orient player Dean Leacock made a last-ditch tackle to thwart Mooney.

The additional eight minutes of injury time saw the game spring back to life, Andre Boucaud playing a fantastic cross to Yoann Arquin, whose header smashed against the crossbar, before Alan Judge's half volley, again after some inspirational play, went just over.

Speiss made another fine save to deny MacDonald, before the in-form Sheehan delivered another cross at the other end which connected with Showunmi and very nearly made it in.

After the break, Showunmi, oozing confidence after his first league goal against Oldham on Tuesday, headed inches over, connecting with a JCR cross, while Judge's long-range hit forced the Orient keeper into a save.

At the other end, Speiss showed just why he is so highly rated by the Notts hierachy, his full-stretch save denying Martin Rowland's deflected free kick, and blocking Mooney's placed shot with his leg.

Eventually, Orient took the lead, as the Notts defence allowed Cook too much time and space on the ball. His shot was well saved by Speiss but the keeper could do nothing to stop Mooney scoring from the rebound.

It wasn't long before Orient were in the Notts area again after the restart, Mooney's shot being deflected behind for a corner, and more lax defending saw Mathieu Baudry double the lead with a volley. Two goals conceded in the space of three minutes, the County players and fans shell-shocked.

As Romello Nangle came on for Arquin, a lull followed where the match officials swapped positions as a result of the referee's injury, before Notts pulled one back, Showunmi's hard work allowing Jeff Hughes to finish from eight yards. 2-1, twelve minutes to go.

Orient were dominant thereafter and could have scored several but for excellent defensive work by Sheehan and Bishop, and of course, the outstanding Speiss.

But for a chance by Hughes, a glancing header, Notts struggled to pierce the O's defence again, and the match ended 2-1, the home team claiming all three points, Notts' sublime away record in tatters, the team eight points adrift of the play-offs and sweating over Bialkowski's fitness. At least Fabian Speiss proved to be a very capable deputy in between the sticks.