Leyton Orient’s "intent" in their 1-0 victory over Dagenham and Redbridge was praised by Justin Edinburgh, as they maintained their spot at the top of the National League.

Orient had plenty of chances to extend their advantage after Macauley Bonne scored what proved to be the winner and the boss was delighted with the display, despite his team not scoring as many as they could.

Speaking to the club website, the O's head coach said: “I thought we were worthy of the three points today.

“The woodwork denied us three times and then you look at the one with Josh Koroma, who perhaps should have just squared it to Alex Lawless, but the intent was there, the opportunities were there which is good. We looked to be getting back to near our best.”

In the end a goal for Bonne was enough to move the O’s four points clear at the summit, despite an early scare when Angelo Balanta smartly finished off a well-worked free-kick routine with a neat backheel, only to be ruled offside.

The home side took the lead on the half-hour mark when Sam Ling’s early cross was flicked on by Marvin Ekpiteta, finding Bonne, whose header eventually trickled over the line to the joy of Edinburgh, who said: “I didn’t think it was ever going to cross the line, it seemed to take an eternity.”

Orient dominated proceedings in the second half and struck the post on three separate occasions.

First, skipper Jobi McAnuff drove a long-range effort against the post after charging through the Dagenham defence.

Then Koroma lashed a McAnuff cross against the woodwork before diverting a teasing Joe Widdowson delivery against the bar with 20 minutes remaining.

Koroma had one more opportunity to double Orient’s advantage in the last minute of normal time, but he missed the target from six yards out after a lung-busting run saw him round Elliot Justham in the Dagenham goal.

The O’s held on to claim the victory, leaving Edinburgh pleased with what he labelled “a good clean sheet and a very valuable three points to take us into the new year".