Paul Smyth helps 10 men Leyton Orient top their Papa John's Trophy group with a late 1-0 victory over League One side Charlton Athletic.
Manager Kenny Jackett made wholesale changes from the side that helped the O’s seal progress into the second round of the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Ebbsfleet United on Saturday.
The Addicks also made plenty of changes while also handing debuts to Nazir Bakrin and Richard Chin as well as naming academy players Nathan Harvey, Harris O’Connor and Ryan Viggars in the matchday squad for the first time.
The first real chance of the contest came in the seventh minute of play when Charlton forward Mason Burstow broke in behind the Orient backline, but his effort was tipped onto the bar by Rhys Byrne.
Tyrese Omotoye drove in from the left, went for goal, but Nathan Harness denied his effort and it went behind for a corner.
Moments later Charlton forward Josh Davison met a flick on, but fired wide of the target.
Davison was once again in the thick of the action as the former Barking loanee caught a corner sweetly on the volley but saw his effort blocked by his own team-mate.
O's loanee Omotoye drilled a shot from 30 yards out as the first-half came towards a close but his shot was comfortably held by Nathan Harness.
Early in the second-half Paul Smyth had a header denied by Harness from point blank range.
Left wing-back Connor Wood drilled a shot over the crossbar shortly after as Omotoye brought the ball down inside the box before laying it back.
The hosts caught Charlton on the break, Northern Ireland international Smyth dinked the ball past Harness, but it rolled off the left post.
The O's went down to 10 men in the 66th minute as Antony Papadopoulos picked up his second yellow card for a tackle on Burstow.
Sotiriou made a fantastic solo run as he danced his way into the box before having his shot blocked with less than 20 minutes left to play.
An error at the back was pounced on by Smyth, who showed his quality with a composed finish under pressure by slotting it home in the 79th minute.
Leyton Orient: Byrne, Kyprianou, Mitchell, Happe, Ogie (Thompson 72), Wood, Young, Papadopoulos, Smyth (Kemp 85), Sotiriou, Omotoye (Nkrumah 90).
Unused subs: Sargeant, Clay, Sweeney, Tanga.
Charlton Athletic: Harness, Elerewe, Souare, Bakrin, Morgan, Dempsey, Henry, Chin (Viggars 76), Clayden, Davison (Aouachria 46), Burstow (Powell 71)
Unused subs: Harvey, O'Connor, Ness, Gavin.
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