Town went out of the Carling Cup at the first hurdle after a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Leyton Orient at The County Ground.

The home side made a bright start to the game, enjoying the best of the early possession and opportunities, and went close through both Michael Rose and Charlie Austin, but the former's deflected shot grazed the crossbar on its way over on three minutes, and the latter scuffed a good cross from Paul Caddis when well placed after 10.

A tense, attritional period of play then followed, with Town largely dominating possession but failing to seriously hurt the cautious visitors.

With the crowd growing impatient at a lack of cutting edge, the deadlock was broken on 35 minutes when Rose rolled the ball into the path of David Ball on the left-hand edge of the area, and the Manchester City loanee crossed low to the back post where Jon-Paul McGovern was waiting in space to side-foot the ball coolly into the far corner.

Town then began to look considerably more threatening in the final ten minutes of the half, and might have stretched their lead when an excellent move, started by a 60-yard diagonal pass from Lecsinel Jean-Francois picked out McGovern on the right, and the goal scorer's flat delivery was narrowly out of the reach of Charlie Austin.

It really should have been two on the stroke of half-time as Alan O'Brien squared the ball to David Prutton who was unmarked on the edge of the six yard box, but hit his shot straight at Orient 'keeper Jamie Jones who saved well.

Prutton again went close with the last kick of the half as he shot narrowly wide from the edge of the box, but it stayed at 1-0 as Town went into the break seemingly in control of proceedings at SN1.

The hosts were again the stronger of the two sides as the second half began, and looked threatening going forward but it was the O's who went closest early on in the period, as former Town striker Alex Revell unleashed a rasping goal bound drive which Phil Smith did brilliantly to fingertip wide of the post.

This seemed to galvanise the visitors as they enjoyed their best spell of the game and should have been level when Dean Cox picked out Ryan Jarvis unmarked in the box, but the striker headed over from eight yards out.

However, he went one better five minutes later as, just as Town seemed to be regaining their stranglehold on the game, Jarvis was put through on goal by Matthew Spring, and drilled a left-footed shot past Smith into the roof of the net to level the score.

It got worse for Town soon after, as Jonathan Douglas conceded a free-kick on the edge of the box, and Alex Revell stepped up to thrash the ball into the bottom corner past Smith and turn the game on its head after 67 minutes

With time beginning to run out, the hosts looked a little edgier in possession than they had done either side of the break as they strived to get back on level terms.

Chances fell to Austin and McGovern as the game moved into its final 15 minutes, but neither could beat Jamie Jones with their respective snap volleys.

These were to prove Town's final chances to equalise as they went down to their second 2-1 home defeat in as many games. It was a deflating end to an evening which had seen an at times very encouraging performance, but Danny Wilson will go back to the drawing board ahead of Saturday's trip to Hartlepool United.