Leyton Orient boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation from the National League after clinching a 2-1 win at Halifax Town on Tuesday night.

The O’s victory over the Shaymen moved them above their opponents into 17th position and five points clear of the bottom four.

It was Orient’s first away league victory of the calendar year and head coach Justin Edinburgh felt his side deserved to come away from Halifax with a vital win.

Edinburgh told the club website: “I thought it was a very good performance. I thought we had to dig in at times and rightly so. There was a lot riding on the game. But I thought we managed it well and thought we were worthy winners on the night.

He added: “We knew that it was going to be physical and knew we had to dig in deep. We certainly did that and competed very well in all areas of the pitch.

“I thought we did ever so well on the front foot and looked a threat. To get the lead was very good but for the first entry to our box to concede was disappointing.

“They could have perhaps got another one so we tightened that up and certainly in the second half we defended a lot better in the box.”

The match was originally scheduled for January 20 but was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

Ebou Adams earned a rare start in place of suspended midfielder Alex Lawless while Josh Koroma replaced injured winger James Dayton.

The O’s made a bright start to the contest and Koroma had an early opportunity for the visitors along with veteran midfielder Jobi McAnuff.

The first threat on Orient’s goal came through Shaun Tuton with the home side’s striker curling a shot narrowly past the post.

Orient opened the scoring after 18 minutes when Dan Holman released Macauley Bonne and the striker kept his composure to net his 17th goal of the season.

McAnuff then teed up Holman but his shot was kept out by a save from goalkeeper Sam Johnson.

Koroma almost got on the score sheet for the O’s but his effort was blocked.

Bonne had the opportunity to notch his second goal of the game but the striker’s header flew over the Halifax crossbar.

The hosts drew level just after the half-hour mark when Orient failed to clear a cross and Tom Denton pounced to fire home the equaliser.

Holman spurned the chance to give the O’s the lead again almost immediately when he fired over the bar.

But Orient made it 2-1 seven minutes before the break when Koroma held off his opponent in the area and fired a low shot into the net.

Halifax wasted a golden opportunity to level again before the break when goalscorer Denton failed to tap the ball in at the back post.

Town kept the pressure on early in the second half and Denton went close with a header which flew just over Dean Brill’s crossbar.

The O’s still looked dangerous on the break and Holman’s flick released Bonne but the striker’s shot was blocked by Johnson.

Edinburgh was very pleased with the contribution of Adams and goalscorer Koroma during the win.

He said: “I thought they were excellent and showed maturity. I thought they showed energy. I’m pleased for Josh getting the winner and Ebou on his first league start for probably six months grew into the game.

“He had a real physical presence and drove us on there. I’m really pleased for him because he had to be patient but it was a fantastic performance out there.”

The O’s travel to Dover Athletic in the third round of the FA Trophy on Saturday.