Milanese enjoys winning feeling

Mauro Milanese finally found the winning formula to end Leyton Orient's dismal run of home league form.

The O's had not won a League One match at Brisbane Road this season but Italian Milanese, the club's third manager this term, finally ended the dismal sequence by plotting a 4-1 victory over Crewe. Orient grew in confidence after Gianvito Plasmati had opened the scoring and before half-time, the tireless Chris Dagnall had doubled the advantage. Dean Cox made it 3-0 on the hour but a superb 25-yard strike by Anthony Grant lifted the spirits of their opponents. They came close to snatching a second when Jamie Ness was denied by O's keeper Adam Legzdins but from the counter-attack, substitute David Mooney netted four minutes from time to ensure all three points for the home side. Milanese admitted that the win was much-needed. "It was very important to win at home and I thought that we played the game very well, the lads were fantastic," he said. "There is a lot of spirit and belief in this squad and results will give us a bit more confidence. During the week, I was confident that we would give a good performance and I'm happy for our supporters that they were able to enjoy the afternoon and to see our first league victory at home this season. "We created a lot of chances, crossed from the sides and played very well at times. Chris Dagnall was superb, he never gave up, he ran and pressed the spaces and did very well. "I was disappointed with the goal that we conceded and maybe we should have defended the ball better. We lost confidence for a little while after that but that happens and we need to work a bit harder on our defending. "This is a tough league, it's very difficult and anyone can beat anyone home or away. We have been improving steadily in the last few games and we need to build on this victory now." Crewe boss Steve Davis believed that his side were the better team in the first half. "Despite the score, I thought that we actually played some good football," he said. "Take the goals away from the first half and I thought that we were slightly better than them in terms of football without creating a massive amount of chances. "I think the two efforts they had on target in the first half both ended in our net. Our three centre-halfves just weren't marking well enough for the first two goals, so we have to defend better. "But we were spirited in our play and worked very hard and played some good football at times. "I think it was a bit cruel on us to be three down, we didn't deserve that but we got one back and had a great chance to make it 3-2 but their keeper pulled off a good save. Then as we were pushing forward, they made it 4-1. "I thought the result flattered them a little in terms of the percentage of play. "We have been keeping a lot of clean sheets lately and at the moment, because we are not scoring an abundance of goals, we have to keep clean sheets." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts