3/1 To Win
Derby County made it five wins in a row in Sky Bet League one thanks to a 3-0 victory away at 10-man Leyton Orient.
Tom Barkhuizen's first league goal of the campaign added to strikes from Louie Sibley and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to cement three points for the Rams and make it 15 points from the last 15 available.
Key Moments
A frantic end-to-end start nearly saw the home side take the lead within the opening five minutes.
Joe Pigott was able to work it around Eiran Cashin before laying the ball back to Theo Archibald who got his shot all wrong from the centre of the box and it fell harmlessly out of play.
Kane Wilson had the Rams' first shot on target of the afternoon when he latched on to the end of Louie Sibley's excellent cross but it was easily gathered by Sol Brynn.
An excellent piece of defending from Curtis Nelson kept the scores level when he cut out a cross from Ruel Sotiriou that looked destined to find an Orient man for a tap in.
A free-kick from Joe Ward forced Brynn into a fine save down to his left as both sides continued to search for a breakthrough in the opening half.
And Sibley got that breakthrough with an outstanding strike on the half-an-hour mark. He picked the ball up around 30-yards out and took a couple of touches before unleashing a fine low driven effort that left Brynn with no chance.
It could and probably should have got better just before the break. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing got away from his man down the left and played a pinpoint ball into the area for James Collins but the Rams number nine could only direct his effort wide from inside the box.
But the Rams were given a boost in another manner right on the stroke of half-time when Orient's Brandon Cooper was handed a straight red card for an elbow on Collins.
It meant Derby would go into the second period with a goal and man advantage and it took the Rams just over 60 seconds to make the most of that following the restart.
Kane Wilson did well down the right to pick out Hourihane and the skipper laid it off to Mendez-Laing who hit it first time and squeezed it below Brynn and into the bottom corner.
Substitute Omar Beckles thought he'd halved the deficit almost immediately when he got on the end of a free-kick and placed a first-time effort into the back of the net but the assistant had his flag raised and the score remained 2-0.
Sibley had a strike comfortably saved from range as he searched for his second and the Rams' third of the afternoon and Wilson and Mendez-Laing both had teasing crosses into the box that no blue shirt was able to get on the end of.
Jordan Brown had an effort deflected just wide as the hosts showed they still had a little life in the tank with time ticking on
.But Barkhuizen made sure of the points with 10 minutes to go when he finished off a rapid break from the Rams, slotting into an empty net after being laid on a plate by Mendez-Laing.
The Teams
Leyton Orient: Brynn (GK), James (C), Happe, Brown, Pigott (53' Pratley), Sotiriou (62' Aygei), Archibald (62' Forde), Cooper, Moncur (45' Beckles), El Mizouni, Hunt.
Substitutes: Howes (GK), Sweeney, Galbraith.
Derby County: Wildsmith (GK), Wilson, Forsyth, Hourihane (C) (81' Fornah), Cashin, Bird, Collins (72' John-Jules), Mendez-Laing (90' Brown), Sibley (72' Bradley), Ward (72' Barkhuizen), Nelson.
Substitutes: Vickers (GK), Fapetu.
What's Next Up?
The Rams return to Derbyshire a week today when they welcome Wycombe Wanderers to Pride Park in Sky Bet League One (3pm kick-off).
