Ruel Sotiriou scored the only goal as a youthful Leyton Orient side edged past Tower Hamlets in the London Senior Cup.

The Cyprus under-21 international netted after 15 minutes at the Mile End Stadium to send a side featuring seven under-18s players through.

Orient were dominant from the off and could have taken the lead earlier than Sotiriou’s strike when Lawrence Hammond cut back for Antony Papadopoulos, but his effort crashed back off the crossbar.

Sotiriou then had a chance of his own when he forced a good one-handed save from the Hamlets keeper, but he wasn’t to be denied shortly after when he intercepted a loose ball and provided a powerful finish from 18 yards.

The visitors made their first assault on the goal after 35 minutes when their midfielder tried his luck from distance, but Sam Sargeant in the O’s goal was able to comfortably watch it go wide.

Minutes later though, they came a lot closer as a strike from the edge of the area whistled narrowly past the post.

After the break, normality was restored and Orient once again began to dominate the tie, but they were struggling to turn their possession and chances into goals.

Sotiriou fired another effort towards goal after good work from Jayden Sweeney down the left, but it proved to be a comfortable stop for the Tower Hamlets keeper.

There was a late chance for the home side to level in the 78th minute when a corner was met at the far post, but the header ended up wide and Orient held onto their single goal to go through to round two, where they were eliminated last season.