Charlton Ath 2 v 1 Leyton Orient

FA Cup Fourth Round

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CHARLTON Athletic squeezed past a resilient Leyton Orient side only to face another tricky FA Cup tie, this time against Brentford of League One.

Goals from Jonathan Fortune and a last-minute Jay Bothroyd free kick sealed a 2-1 win for Alan Curbishley's men but they were reliant more on luck than judgement to reach the fifth round.

Curbishley said: "It was a great game and Orient played fantastically well, which we knew they would.

"I think our fans don't think the other team should be in our box but it is not like that and we worked as hard this week as we did for Chelsea."

He added: "After we scored we seemed to drop off and Orient worked their way back into the match.

"They looked like they were enjoying it and maybe they ran out of steam towards the end and invited us on a bit. Maybe they were holding out for a draw.

"I am just pleased to be through."

Chalrton took the lead on six minutes when Darren Ambrose's free kick was headed in by the unmarked Fortune and from then until the 40th minute, Charlton looked comfortable if not exciting with nerves seemingly keeping Orient at bay.

But just before half-time Orient fired three warnings across Charlton's bow and, moments into the second half, their pressure paid off when Lee Steele toe-poked home despite the best efforts of Thomas Myhre.

The home faithful were becoming increasingly frustrated as Charlton attacks stalled time and time again until Curbishley made a triple substitution.

And judging by the gleeful roar which greeted the departure of the diabolically bad Bryan Hughes and ineffectual Radostin Kishishev, their days at The Valley could well be numbered.

Charlton took the ascendency and when Bothroyd's daisy-cutter squirmed under the unfortunate Glyn Garner in Leyton's goal the relief around The Valley was clear.

Charlton now host Brentford in the fifth round of the FA Cup on the weekend of February 18.

MATCH FACTS: TEAM: Myhre, 6; Young, 6; Hreidarsson, 8; Kishishev, 5 (Thomas, 63); Holland, 6; Bent, 6; Bartlett, 6 (Bothroyd, 63); Ambrose, 6; Hughes, 5 (Smertin, 63); Powell, 6; Fortune, 7.

SUBS NOT USED: Andersen; Spector.

ATT: 22,029.