Football's great escape artist Brian Horton continued to weave his magic as relegation haunted Macclesfield Town produced their second successive win under his management.
It was Horton's brilliant tactical substitution in the 55th minute that set up the vital win, Martin Carruthers coming off the bench to hammer home his 10th goal of an otherwise mediocre season.
Horton however was not about to take any credit: "Sometimes substitutions work for you, sometimes they don't. We needed to be more adventurous and bringing on an extra forward paid dividends." He warned however: "We've not got to think that we've now done it. There are five games to go and 15 points still to play for. We've only just started. I'll tell you whether I'm enjoying this when those games have finished and not before." Frustrated O's manager Martin Ling warned that his side could now be dragged down.
He said: "My players have got to realise that we are also in a dogfight.
"We've taken only four points from 10 games and would be the bottom club in the division on that form. I always thought we would need 50 points but with all the teams at the bottom winning, it might now be 52." The vital goal came when Carruthers raced onto a Michael Welch long ball before muscling big Mark Peters off the ball. He then took deadly aim lashing a low volley to the far corner.
A resurgent Macclesfield should have added more in the second half. O's keeper Glen Morris clawing a Matthew Tipton attempt wide before bravely saving at the feet of the rampaging Jon Parkin.
Orient offered little all game. Their best chance coming in the fourth minute when John Mackie glided onto a Justin Miller long throw only to see Steve Wilson fingertip the ball onto the crossbar.