Leyton orient picked up their first win in seven fixtures against Northampton on Saturday. The O's gained a well earned three points with a 1-0 victory at Brisbane Road as James Brophey's second half strike was the difference in a closely contested match.

Both teams had a number of good chances throughout the game but the quality of finishing meant that it was a solitary goal that provided a much-needed win for Leyton Orient, who moved six points away from the relegation zone following the win.

Fans were delighted to see a solid performance from the O's and there were a number of factors which contributed to their first win in eight matches.

Here are three things we learnt about Leyton Orient in their win against Northampton this weekend.

Changes to team pay off

Ross Embleton made three changes to the side for the fixture against Northampton. James Brophy, Matt Harold and Dale Gorman all came into the starting eleven.

Striker Harold combined well with Brophy for the winner as Harold played in the midfielder with a well timed through ball and Brophy slotted the ball calmly into the net.

The changes in personnel seemed to work for Embleton in this fixture and Harold looked particularly dangerous throughout and came close to adding a goal of his own.

But it was also the tweaks he made to the formation which worked, switching from 3412 in the previous match against Port Vale to a more structured 442 diamond against Northampton.

Resilient setup will get results

The formation change was clearly more effective in this fixture and provided Leyton orient with the defensive structure they have been lacking of late having not kept a clean sheet in their eight fixtures prior to the Northampton game.

Their defence looked well organised and structured in this match and were able to comfortably see out the match after Brophy's second-half strike to earn all three points.

Goalkeeper Brill will earn them clean sheets

Although the entire defence worked extremely hard in this fixture, goalkeeper Dean Brill kept Orient in the game and produced two vital saves which proved the difference between the two sides.

The first save came early on in the first half as Brill did well to save from Nicky Adams. In the final ten minutes Brill produced heroics to prevent Scott Wharton's volley from the edge of the box finding its way into the back of the net.

Brill played every minute of the league season for Leyton Orient last year and will be key to keeping more clean sheets for the O's as they will look to move further away from the relegation zone following this result.