Andy Edwards’ nightmares will have been nothing compared to the reality of the opening 15 minutes of his debut as Leyton Orient manager - after two red cards threatened to open the floodgates in their 2-0 defeat to Plymouth.

The fact that the league leaders could only put two goals past their hosts, despite playing for so long against nine men, spoke volumes for the O’s commitment and fight on the night, and they fashioned a number of half-chances against the Pilgrims.

Robbie Weir was first to see red after just 36 seconds when his late tackle was deemed worthy of a dismissal by card-happy Charles Breakspear, before debutant Jens Janse followed only 13 minutes later.

Sandwiched in between those cards was an opening goal from Plymouth’s Jimmy Spencer, before Ryan Donaldson added a second eight minutes from time as Orient tired late on.

Caretaker boss Edwards made two changes from the side beaten so comfortably by Notts County at the weekend, giving Janse a debut at right-back, and Nicky Hunt shuffling into the middle to replace the injured Yvan Ericot.

Elsewhere, Harry Cornick was dropped to the bench, and Sandro Semedo given his first start since August 30.

Edwards would have wanted a quiet, steady start to his reign as Orient looked to rebuild their fragile confidence, but that hope was shattered barely half a minute in.

Weir clattered into Ben Purrington with a challenge worthy of a yellow at most; but the forocity of it gave Breakspear a decision to make, and the Northern Irishman was swiftly given his marching orders.

There can have been few earlier dismissals in all of Orient’s 135-year history, but worse was to follow.

After forcing several free-kicks which came to little, the O’s were caught sleeping at the back as David Goodwillie fed Spencer, who fired beyond an onrushing Cisak to open the scoring and hammer home their man advantage.

They say good and bad things come in threes - and influential midfielder Liam Kelly was forced off a minute later, after failing to recover from a knock.

But no, not this time. Next Jake Jervis skipped away down the left from Plymouth’s next attack, and was brought down with a lazy challenge from Janse.

By the letter of the law, the debutant Dutchman was the last man - and he followed his team-mate down the tunnel as   his debut was cut short in the worst possible fashion.

In many games, this would have been enough action to fill in an entire 90 minutes, but here it took less than 14.

With two men down, the Orient of Saturday’s lifeless defeat at Notts County would have wilted against a side seeking a seventh league win from eight.

But amid the sideshow of injuries and red cards, what the O’s lacked in numbers they made up for in character.

Callum Kennedy tucked into the middle of defence in a makeshift 3-4-1 formation, and they restricted the league leaders to fewer opportunities than they will have been used to in most of their early-season run before the break.

Jervis and Graham Carey worked good chances to test Cisak, while Goodwillie missed a free header from no more than six yards out - but the hosts remained compact and had half-chances of their own through Semedo and Jay Simpson.

At half-time, Edwards may have thought he had weathered the worst of the storm, but within minutes Atangana had become the hosts’ second casualty of the night.

For all the excitement - if that is the word - of the first-half, the second contained wave after wave of Plymouth pressure, but still the O’s stood firm.

With better composure, the visitors would have been well ahead with time to spare - but through a mixture of profligacy and committed defending, they were held at arms’ length for the most part.

The Pilgrims did have the ball in the net 10 minutes after the restart through Goodwillie’s finish, but he had mistimed his run and the linesman’s flag was up before he even touched the ball.

More chances followed, but not before Simpson had blazed a shot wide for the hosts and Massey was played in inside the box, before he was thwarted by another raise of the flag.

Carey was guilty of missing two chances for the visitors as they looked to secure their league in a game which always looked open, with Orient’s desire helping them hold on.

With six minutes to go, their resolve was finally broken, as Ryan Donaldson slotted home a second from Carey’s pull-back - but it said a lot that the O’s fans, who have only seen one league home win this season, responded with a rapturous round of applause.

Craig Tanner cracked a shot against the woodwork in the dying minutes before Fox sent Cisak diving to stop his goal-bound effort in the final real chance of the game.

But despite seeing their side comfortably beaten on the night, again the home crowd rose as one at the full-time whistle - if Orient can show this level of willingness to fight for the rest of the season, they won’t go far wrong.

Leyton Orient: Cisak; Janse, Hunt, Parkes, Kennedy; Massey, Weir (c), Kelly (Atangana 13 (Cornick 48)), Semedo; McCallum (Bowery 82), Simpson.

Not used: Sargeant, Palmer, Nnomo, Pollock.