Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens admitted Wycombe Wanderers “were far too good” for his side as they lost 3-0 to the Chairboys at Adams Park.
Strikes from Fred Onyedinma, Dan Udoh and Cam Humphreys gave Matt Bloomfield’s team their eighth victory in 12 games so far this season, and 10th unbeaten in League One, moving them up to second.
Orient meanwhile remain in a battle at the bottom, just outside the bottom fourth and this eighth defeat of the season.
The O's lacked any real threat going forward, with ironic cheers when Ollie O’Neill’s tame attempt was saved by Wycombe keeper Franco Ravizzoli in the last 10 minutes.
It was the first time the Argentinian was properly tested during the contest.
Wellens said: “They were far too good for us because every time they cleared it, they go big and they go long.
“They have strikers that are jumping in, leaning in and are effective and they are hard to play against.
“The first two goals were mistakes and they were just better than us.
“When they got into [attacking] areas, they took over with their pace, and even though we had lots of opportunities [to create chances], we slowed the game down.
“Wycombe were explosive, powerful, and we were poor. When they got into the final third, they used their quality and they were ruthless.
“They’re giving it a right go.”
Onyedinma had got the ball rolling on five minutes, jumping on a slip by Ethan Galbraith to run through and beat Orient keeper Josh Keeley one on one.
And the home side added a second on the stroke of half-time, Udoh scoring to cap a dominating first period.
The win was wrapped up midway through the second half with Humphreys’ third strike of the campaign.
And it left the mood of Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield the complete opposite to that of Wellens.
He said: "The boys have put a huge amount of effort into the week. We’re scoring goals, the boys are in good form and it’s a joy to watch them.
“We’re really pleased but there is a lot of work to do still.”
Orient's performance and result was a far cry from the one in the week, a 1-0 success over Rotherham United which brought their first home win of the season.
A second-half header by central defender Dan Happe from a set-piece proved decisive and had Wellens delighted.
He said: "You could feel the edginess at times, but there was never any sense of panic from the players. They grounded out the result against a good team with some good players.
“It was a really scrappy poor game first 20 minutes, but we wanted to make sure we built our way into the game and we fought and scrapped, and played some decent stuff towards the end of the first half.
“It was 50-50 game and could have gone either way so, again, I take my hat off to the players who showed the composure and spirit to fight.
“I’ve not been happy the last few weeks because we should have got more points.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here