Leyton Orient head coach Justin Edinburgh hailed his side’s FA Trophy semi-final win over AFC Telford United as a “collective” rather than based on individual performances.

Goals from Matt Harrold and Josh Coulson gave the O’s a 2-1 second-leg win, but they did it the hard way after having Harrold sent off on 25 minutes.

This didn’t deter Edinburgh from his starting shape though, and he kept the midfield two of Jobi McAnuff and Craig Clay even with the reduced numbers.

After the game, Edinburgh said: “They [McAnuff and Clay] worked tirelessly and when we did win the ball back they weren’t wasteful, they found the right options and they used the right players at the right time.

“It’s not about individuals though, it was a collective today.”

The O’s had initially taken the lead through Harrold when he capitalised on a defensive error after only six minutes to fire into an empty net, but National League North side Telford came back into the game following his red card and scored a deserved equaliser when Ellis Deeney fired beyond Dean Brill from range.

Telford picked up from where they left off in the second half, but as they began to tire, Orient came back into the game and notched the winning goal.

McAnuff’s free-kick delivery from the right was met by Marvin Ekpiteta at the far post, and his header back was nodded beyond Andy Wycherley by Coulson to restore the two-goal advantage on aggregate.

“We needed that,” Edinburgh said. “It was the longest second half I’ve had for a long while and we were up against it obviously but we got that moment, it was a calm finish with his head and that just settled us through. It sent the fans delirious and it was game over then.”