Leaders Leyton Orient suffered just a second National League defeat of the season as Boreham Wood’s six-game search for three points ended with a 1-0 victory at Meadow Park.

A fourth-minute strike from Femi Ilesanmi ultimately proved enough as the O’s 11-game unbeaten league record on the road this season came to an end.

Orient remain top of the defeat, but will be displaced if Salford City win at Chesterfield this afternoon, while Wood are 11th, five points off the play-offs.

It was the hosts who were celebrating with under five minutes gone when Ilesanmi was found in space on the left side of the area and he slammed a rising drive past Dean Brill into the roof of the net.

Luke Garrard’s men sought to build on that early breakthrough and Kieran Murtagh was twice denied by Brill, with the O’s keeper also called into action to thwart Bradley Ash before the 15-minute mark had been reached.

The visitors then began to establish a foothold in the contest, but had to make a 28th-minute change as James Dayton replaced James Brophy.

A Dale Gorman piledriver forced Wood keeper Ryan Huddart to parry the ball back out, but nobody in a red shirt was following in for the rebound.

However, the O’s twice went close to an equaliser in the latter stages of the first half as Gorman saw an effort deflected narrowly wide, before Josh Coulson's acrobatic attempt hit the post.

Aside from a Gozie Ugwu header over the top from a free-kick for the hosts, chances were in relatively short supply after the restart, although Joe Widdowson had to produce a great challenge to thwart Ash when he looked set to double Wood’s lead.

Huddart did well to keep out a Coulson header from a Jobi McAnuff corner, but the keeper was to become a busier man in the closing stages as the O’s ramped up the pressure in search of an equaliser.

Josh Koroma fired narrowly wide before the Wood keeper did superbly to block a shot from the youngster with his legs after Brophy had cut the ball back to his team-mate.

O’s top scorer Macauley Bonne was the next to see an effort blocked, but the visitors were unable to find a route back into the contest despite five minutes of stoppage time.

Boreham Wood: Huddart; Ilesnami, Ricketts, Champion, Stephens, Fyfield, Shakes, Murtagh, Ash, Thomas, Ugwu (Shaibu 89). Subs not used: Burbidge, Parry, Smith, Ndiaye.

Leyton Orient: Brill; Ling (Alabi 61), Ekpiteta, Coulson, Widdowson; Dayton (Brophy 27), Gorman (Lawless 72), Clay, McAnuff; Bonne, Koroma. Subs not used: Sargeant, Happe.