LEYTON ORIENT 1 HARRIERS 3

Surely Brisbane Road witnessed a real football rarity as two loan players both came on to score goals on their debut.

But wasn't the spectacular introduction of Ritchie Appleby and Bo Henriksen exactly what Harriers' away form needed.

The goals which secured Saturday's 3-1 win were no more than Jan Molby's men deserved either after an assured display.

It is easy to get carried away but in a fairly mundane Division Three, Harriers have started looking more like play-off contenders than bottom-five fodder.

Their recent results have picked up dramatically but still not as much as the rapid improvement in performances.

Fielding the same first 11 for five games in a row in a 4-3-3 formation, Molby really appears to have found the winning formula that seemed so far away in the first few months of the season.

With the up-turn in results comes a natural rise in confidence and it could well inspire Harriers into finding the net on a regular basis.

Certainly the most recent additions to Molby's squad will help them do just that.

Ritchie Appleby, a winger, has done well in the past when free from injury and looked comfortable on the ball.

And in Henriksen, nicknamed Bomber and looking just a bit like Chelsea's Emmanuel Petit with his flowing blonde hair, Harriers appear to have someone too good for the Third Division on first sighting.

The weekend success gave Harriers their first back-to-back wins of the season and Molby now hopes this could be the start of an eye-catching run.

Backed by a vocal support who clearly appreciated the players' efforts and vice versa, the visitors survived a testing early period.

They worked hard to fend off dangerous free-kicks and corners as Leyton Orient pressed hard.

Stuart Brock held a wicked long-range effort from Andy Harris, caught Jeff Minton's header but was nearly caught out on 15 minutes.

Brock was slow to react to Sall's back-header and diminutive striker Aaron McLean very nearly took advantage.

As it was, the ball ran off for a corner and Harriers took the lead five minutes later through the in-form Dean Bennett.

Midfielder Danny Williams, an influential figure in the midfield, won possession and supplied Bennett who swapped slick passes with Colin Larkin and beat keeper Scott Barrett easily from 15 yards.

Although Steve Watts headed wide for the home side, Harriers took control.

At the start of the second half, a good move saw Williams fire Broughton's pull-back goalwards from the edge of the area only for Barrett to divert the ball up into the air and happily claim the rebound.

Orient's John Martin fired straight at Brock on 53 minutes before Harriers wasted a good opportunity when Ian Foster drove the ball straight at Barrett with Broughton unmarked at the far post.

It came as a bit of a shock when Minton lashed home a lethal 20-yarder after Craig Hinton had headed away Billy Jones' corner on 59 minutes.

When Larkin missed a great chance to put Harriers ahead for a second time on 75 minutes, firing straight at defender Dean Smith after Stamps had done all the spade work, a point looked likely.

But Appleby had been on the pitch just eight minutes when he dived to head home a Broughton nod-back from Stamps' cross.

And that goal 10 minutes from time was swiftly followed by an ever quicker impact from Henriksen.

The excellent Stamps was again involved, drilling a long pass that Henriksen brought down brilliantly in the area before flicking past Barrett.

Harriers fans went home happy, not just with the victory but probably also at the prospect of watching a much-improved, far more entertaining team this Saturday in the FA Cup.

LEYTON ORIENT: Barrett; Joseph, McGhee, Smith, Jones; Beall (Houghton 51), Minton, Harris, Martin (Gough 77); Watts, McLean (Tate 64). Subs not used: Canham, Morris.

HARRIERS: Brock 6; Clarkson 7 (Smith 88), Sall 7, Hinton 7, STAMPS 9; Bennett 8, Williams 8, Blake 7; Larkin 6 (Henriksen 79), Broughton 7, Foster 7 (Appleby 72). Subs not used: Murphy, Ducros.

ATTENDANCE: 4,321.

SHOTS ON: Leyton Orient 5 Harriers 7.

SHOTS OFF: Leyton Orient 7 Harriers 1.

CORNERS: Leyton Orient 4 Harriers 0.

YELLOW CARDS: Leyton Orient 0 Harriers 3 (Sall, Stamps, Broughton).

SHUTTLE STAR MAN: Scott Stamps. Mixed his usual uncompromising style, which earned him a booking, with a tremendous creative display on the left. Put in dangerous crosses and set up the last two goals.