LEYTON ORIENT 1 CITY 0

“THINGS can only get better” was number one the last time that City were beaten at Brisbane Road 26 years ago.

It’s a sentiment that Stuart McCall and his bruised Bantams will have clung to on the long drive home from London.

D:Ream? It’s currently more like a nightmare as the League Two tables makes very troubling reading.

The loss dropped City a place to 20th and only two points above the drop zone after Stevenage’s win – an uncomfortable position to be in, even at this stage of the campaign.

It was City’s fourth away loss on the bounce and they have not scored in any of them.

It’s now over six hours of trying since last scoring on their travels when Clayton Donaldson netted the third at Mansfield.

To compound City's woes, Reece Staunton’s comeback from injury ended early in the second half when he went off clutching his hamstring.

It was tough to take for McCall, who was desperate for his side to come away with something after the Salford flop at the weekend.

They should have – but failed to make more of an encouraging first-half display. A failure to turn good play into a goal at that stage came back to bite when Dan Happe headed Orient’s winner.

Staunton had been one of three changes from Saturday. Billy Clarke had also recovered sufficiently from his hamstring trouble and Levi Sutton came in from the start for the injured Harry Pritchard.

Ben Richards-Everton dropped to the bench and Gareth Evans missed out altogether.

City stuck with the wing-back system and the two wide men combined early to create a chance for Connor Wood. Tyler French retrieved his cross and kept the ball alive before Wood’s right foot curler just cleared the angle.

Wood again carried the threat on 12 minutes after Clarke battled to win possession in midfield. He took a whack as he released the pass for Wood’s cross-shot to fizz past the far post.

The same pair combined for the Irishman to glance a header over and the Wood and Clarke show continued with another link-up to open up the O’s.

A deflection off Josh Coulson diverted Clarke’s cutback goalwards and Lawrence Vigouroux had to be alert to push behind.

It was a lively first quarter for the Bantams, especially considering they had not scored in any of their previous three away games.

Orient had banged in seven in their last two at home but City looked more disciplined defensively and were using the ball a lot better. All they needed was a goal to show for it.

Austin Samuels, playing with a growing confidence, tried with a shot on the turn and then Vigouroux saved low down from Paudie O’Connor’s flick.

But the scoreline remained goalless at the break – and Orient almost grabbed an advantage within a minute of the restart. Winger James Brophy was a handful popping up on both sides and he fired in a low left-wing cross that fizzed within a yard of the City line.

Samuels showed neat skills to slip past Joe Widdowson who tried to pull him back. The youngster stayed on his feet to cross for Clayton Donaldson to head wide – and City were fuming not to get the free-kick.

And they suffered another blow in the 56th minute when Staunton went down off the ball in the penalty area clutching his hamstring.

He was clearly unable to continue and Ben Richards-Everton took his place in the back three.

Five minutes later, Clarke’s eye-catching race was run and he made way for teenager Kian Scales – presumably as a precautionary move by his manager.

But City fell behind as they reshuffled. Sub Jordan Maguire-Drew pinged a free-kick towards the middle of the six-yard box where centre half Happe nodded past Richard O’Donnell.

Another goal conceded from a set-piece and the earlier promise had disappeared.

Veteran Jobi McAnuff, who played in the Wimbledon side when McCall won his last game as a City player in 2002, came on for Orient. He was hauled down by Anthony O’Connor and Maguire-Drew fired the free-kick into the side-netting.

There was no hint of a real response going the other way as the Bantams headed towards another failure on the road.

LEYTON ORIENT: Vigouroux 7, Ling 6, Coulson 6, Happe 8, Widdowson 6, Cisse 6, Kyprianou 6 (McAnuff 65min), Brophy 7 (Akinola 90min), Dennis 6 (Wright 75min), Johnson 6, Wilkinson 6 (Maguire-Drew 46min, 7). Subs (not used): Dayton, Thomas, Sargeant.

CITY: O’Donnell 6, P O’Connor 6, A O’Connor 7, Staunton 6 (Richards-Everton 56min, 6), French 6, Watt 7, Sutton 6, Wood 7, Clarke 7 (Scales 61min), Samuels 6 (Mottley-Henry 81min), Donaldson 6. Subs (not used): Longridge, Ismail, Cousin-Dawson, Hornby.

CITY MAN OF THE MATCH: Connor Wood.