Match ends, Leyton Orient 0, Fleetwood Town 1.
Fleetwood Town have been relegated from League One despite beating Leyton Orient, after fellow strugglers Burton Albion beat Reading.
Xavier Simons scored the only goal of the game three minutes into added time to secure victory for the visitors.
But Burton's win at home to Reading sealed Fleetwood's fate.
In a match of endeavour but lacking quality, Town almost took the lead early in the second half when a bullet header by Carl Johnston was punched clear by goalkeeper Sol Brynn from point-blank range.
The Orient keeper was soon extended again to keep out a Ryan Broom effort.
But Jay Lynch was the busier of the two keepers in the first half. He was fully extended when he tipped a 22-yard free-kick by Tom James over the bar and then pushing away a powerful drive by Ethan Galbraith.
Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu went on an enterprising run before his effort was collected by Brynn as Fleetwood pushed for a second-half winner.
It arrived when Simons collected a pass from Tommy Lonergan after Orient failed to clear their lines and neatly struck the ball past Brynn.
But it was not enough to take Fleetwood's fight to the last weekend of the season.
Fleetwood's first relegation
The Cod Army have spent almost the entire season in the relegation zone, having dropped into the bottom four on 19 August.
Boss Scott Brown was sacked in September and replaced by Lee Johnson, but he was relieved of his duties in December after a nine-game winless run.
Former Liverpool, Blackpool and Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam came in in January but was unable to change their fortunes.
He at least succeeded in making the team harder to beat but they struggled to win, drawing five games across a six-game unbeaten run in February and March.
Victory over Northampton on Saturday kept their survival hopes alive but a 4-1 defeat to Peterborough on Tuesday meant their fate was out of their control.
This is the club's first relegation since changing name from Fleetwood Wanderers to Fleetwood Town in 2002.
From there they won six promotions in 12 years, as they rose from North West Counties League Division One to the third tier.
Relegation comes at the end of a turbulent 12 months for the club after Andy Pilley, who served as the club's owner and chairman from 2004, was jailed for 13 years in July for a multi-million pound fraud.
Match details supplied by PA Media.
Line-ups
Leyton Orient
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Brynn
- 2James
- 19Beckles
- 4SimpsonSubstituted forHappeat 79'minutes
- 32HuntSubstituted forSandersat 79'minutes
- 8BrownSubstituted forPratleyat 76'minutes
- 29ObieroSubstituted forAdu-Adjeiat 76'minutes
- 17Forde
- 22Galbraith
- 21O'Neill
- 7AgyeiSubstituted forMoncurat 67'minutes
Substitutes
- 5Happe
- 9Pigott
- 13Howes
- 14Moncur
- 18Pratley
- 20Adu-Adjei
- 23Sanders
Fleetwood
Formation 3-4-1-2
- 13Lynch
- 26RooneyBooked at 89mins
- 16Heneghan
- 4Sarpong-Wiredu
- 11BroomSubstituted forPattersonat 76'minutes
- 8Kilkenny
- 5Lawal
- 2Johnston
- 17Simons
- 19GraydonSubstituted forCoughlanat 72'minutes
- 20OmochereSubstituted forLonerganat 64'minutes
Substitutes
- 6Campbell
- 10Mayor
- 14Lonergan
- 15Quitirna
- 30McMullan
- 33Coughlan
- 44Patterson
- Referee:
- Alex Chilowicz
- Attendance:
- 8,249
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home63%
- Away37%
- Shots
- Home12
- Away14
- Shots on Target
- Home4
- Away8
- Corners
- Home8
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home14
- Away6
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Leyton Orient 0, Fleetwood Town 1.
Goal!
Goal! Leyton Orient 0, Fleetwood Town 1. Xavier Simons (Fleetwood Town) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Tom Lonergan.
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Attempt missed. Tom James (Leyton Orient) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high following a corner.
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Corner, Leyton Orient. Conceded by Ben Heneghan.
Booking
Shaun Rooney (Fleetwood Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Daniel Happe (Leyton Orient) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Shaun Rooney (Fleetwood Town).
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Foul by Ethan Galbraith (Leyton Orient).
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Xavier Simons (Fleetwood Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Shaq Forde (Leyton Orient).
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Shaun Rooney (Fleetwood Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt saved. Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu (Fleetwood Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
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Corner, Fleetwood Town. Conceded by Daniel Happe.
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Corner, Fleetwood Town. Conceded by Tom James.
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Attempt blocked. Shaun Rooney (Fleetwood Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
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Foul by Daniel Adu-Adjei (Leyton Orient).
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Jay Lynch (Fleetwood Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Max Sanders (Leyton Orient) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Ronan Coughlan (Fleetwood Town).
Comments
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What a shockingly poor season they have had...
The don’t seem to want to play the last 10.
American ref let him get away kicking opponents and arguing with him all afternoon