As former leaders of League One and ambitious players in a competition which is nearing its denouement, Orient can claim to have enjoyed the ride, but their stamina has deserted them at the last.

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Home rule on the cards for McAllister: Click here for full story.

Martin Ling's players have the look of a squad who, with four matches to play, are ready for the summer, though not – it should be said – on account of their attitude.

They fought Leeds United gamely at Brisbane Road, but with jaded endeavour which showed how acutely the pace of the season has affected Ling's dressing room.

Orient were play-off material a month ago; on Saturday, they were out on their feet. If Ling needed persuading that promotion will not be his, the evidence was provided by the strength which gushed through Leeds while his team were flagging at Brisbane Road.

Ling was gracious in defeat, conceded over the course of both 90 minutes and the term as a whole, and his admission that a visible "gulf in class" stood between Leeds and Orient was perceptive.

United's superiority has often been minimal this season, but their win in London was masterful in the extreme.

Rarely on Saturday could the game have been described as a contest that Leeds were in danger of losing, and what threatened beforehand to be a nervous fixture was in fact a match in which the confidence of Gary McAllister's players exploded.

Each passing weekend is serving to justify McAllister's employment at Elland Road and the rolling contract given to him on Thursday was as much for United's benefit as it was his own.

Comparisons were immediately made with the collapse of results which followed the award of a new deal to Kevin Blackwell two years ago – a connection which, at the time, was probably tenuous at best – but McAllister did not miss a step on Saturday.

On the contrary, he took another one forward in the direction of the play-offs.

The 43-year-old has been candid enough to admit that, with him in charge, Leeds have progressed in small paces rather than giant leaps. Saturday, however, saw a more sizeable stride in their development and it is not be pushing credibility to ask whether United have constructed a more thorough performance this season.

Every area of McAllister's team performed to their potential at Brisbane Road which is why, in Ling's opinion, their qualification for the play-offs is now a formality.

It is interesting to recall that, just four matches ago, Orient led Leeds by two points. This morning, their positions have been reversed to such an extent that Orient are no longer a competitor that McAllister need worry about.

The victory at Brisbane Road was United's third in four games, suggesting their dash for the line has been timed nicely and found other clubs lacking energy. Moreover, it consolidated a win at Doncaster Rovers which may prove the catalyst for everything which comes United's way next month.

Doncaster's defeat was largely the result of United's defensive nous, and four successive clean sheets are a positive vindication of the work carried out by the club's assistant manager, Steve Staunton.
Orient's examination of McAllister's defence was far less thorough than Doncaster's and once Paul Huntington struck with a header in the 16th minute, the game ran away from Ling's side with increasing speed.
The hosts yielded two goals but might have conceded three times as many.

Huntington's finish alone would have been sufficient for Leeds.
The defender angled his run nicely to meet a free-kick from Bradley Johnson in the mouth of Orient's goal and the goal had been coming.

Four minutes earlier Dougie Freedman stabbed an instinctive shot into the net after Alan Sheehan's cross deflected to his feet, but an offside flag deprived him of the goal his contribution deserved.

Freedman was typically influential on Saturday, operating with intelligence and providing the second goal for Jermaine Beckford when a less cultured striker would have lashed the ball in the direction of Glenn Morris, Orient's goalkeeper.

He would have found the net himself in the 55th minute but Neil Kilkenny inadvertently blocked Freedman's back-heel on the goalline.
Stretch

The intriguing point about McAllister's loanee, however, was the fact that he represented the only player over the age of 30 in United's line-up.

Leeds are essentially a youthful team, which is reason enough for McAllister to feel deeply satisfied about their destruction of Orient.
This is not, by any stretch, a team at their peak, but the thought of the play-offs looming has scarcely affected their nerve.

Jonathan Howson produced another display of immense maturity in the centre of midfield and is growing into a player who Leeds must protect and retain at all costs.

Beckford, meanwhile, extended his tally of goals for the season to 20 with his second-half volley, an incredible statistic for a player who grew up beneath the Football League.

Mark Viduka was the last member of United's squad to reach 20 goals, back in 2003. A measure of Beckford's achievement is the list of strikers who have stepped in or out of Elland Road in the years since, without reaching the same mark.

The roll includes Alan Smith and David Healy. Robbie Fowler, who left Leeds midway through Viduka's 20-goal season, scored only 14 in total.
Viduka was credited with sparing United from relegation, albeit temporarily, and promotion next month would owe the same debt of gratitude to Beckford.

His goal in the 50th minute was a brilliant creation, set up by Freedman's sharp brain and quick feet. The striker danced off the left wing and into Orient's box, and his low cut-back gave Beckford the chance to lash a volley through the arms of Morris.

The finish looked easier than it was, which is an ample way of describing the 24-year-old.

Morris' athleticism had prevented a second goal before half-time, first by blocking Howson's shot with his body on the edge of the box and then by tipping a strike from Freedman beyond the post with his fingertips.

A one-handed parry beat away an overhead kick from Beckford midway through the second half and when Freedman improvised by applying the back of his boot to the rebound a crowd of players in the six-yard box prevented Kilkenny from evading the goal-bound ball. The unfortunate intervention mattered little by then.

Orient had reason to regret a wild finish from Tamika Mkandawire shortly after Huntington's goal which flashed over the crossbar, but it was the highlight of their afternoon.

It did not get any better, however hard they ran.

It was a positive coincidence that a performance with so much panache was saved for April 5, the date on which two members of Leeds United's family were killed in Istanbul.

Eight years on, the feelings and memories are as raw as ever, and those who were there can never forget. They never should.

But it was the power of ambition which took Leeds to Turkey, just as it now takes the club towards Wembley. The spirit cannot fade.