Leyton Orient 5 Bristol Rovers 0: Bristol Rovers' dismal away record took another nosedive as they were put to the sword by Leyton Orient.

The Pirates have now taken one point from the last 27 on their travels, and the only consolation for their disgruntled fans at Brisbane Road was that the margin of defeat could have been even worse.

But this was still Rovers' heaviest defeat of the season, surpassing the four-goal margins they suffered in heavy losses at Norwich and at home to Leeds.

Although there might have been an element of luck about Stephen Purches' first-half opener, with the ball taking a big deflection on the way in, Orient had other chances to increase their lead before the break.

And the home side ran riot in the second period as Ryan Jarvis took advantage of some slack defending to fire home their second, Scott McGleish converted a penalty and Jason Demetriou broke away to plant home goal number four before substitute Jonathan Tehoue rounded things off near the end.

The Pirates made two changes to the side that started the 3-2 home defeat by Wycombe at the weekend.

Fulham midfielder Wayne Brown, signed on loan the day before the game, made his Pirates debut on the right flank in place of Mark Wright.

Following Darryl Duffy's departure to Carlisle, Andy Williams returned to the front line to partner Jo Kuffour.

Orient made the early running with winger Nicky Adams causing problems down Rovers' left.

He supplied a seventh-minute cross which found Jarvis, whose shot struck defender Byron Anthony and rebounded to Purches, whose attempt was deflected over the bar for a corner.

Shortly afterwards, Adams was the provider again as a deep cross found Demetriou on the far side of the box.

Fortunately for the visitors, his volley was fired into the ground and bounced up and over the bar without troubling keeper Mikkel Andersen.

The same combination almost put Orient ahead in the 24th minute. Again, Adams swung over a dangerous cross and Demetriou rose to meet it on the edge of the six-yard box – but somehow put his header wide.

Then Aaron Lescott was caught out as he tried to shepherd the ball out of play. Purches got the better of him and let fly with a fierce strike from an acute angle that Andersen had to tip over the bar.

The resulting corner was only partially cleared and led to the home side taking the lead in the 26th minute as the ball reached Purches, whose shot struck Anthony to leave the helpless Andersen diving the wrong way.

It was a cruel deflection for Rovers, but there was no doubt the home side had looked by far the more dangerous of the two teams over the opening half-hour.

Rovers made a change after 33 minutes with Ben Swallow replacing Lescott. The youngster slotted in on the left wing with Jeff Hughes reverting to full-back.

But it was only the bravery of Andersen that prevented the visitors going further behind in the 42nd minute.

Sean Thornton fired in a free-kick which the Dane blocked but couldn't hold – but he recovered quickly to block McGleish's follow-up from point-blank range and Adam Chambers then somehow fired wide as the ball ran loose again.

Andersen was dazed in the incident and needed treatment before being able to continue, but Orient were threatening again as the interval beckoned with Danny Coles nodding just over his own bar from an Orient free-kick.

The home side almost increased their lead three minutes after the interval when Adams cut in from the wing and fed Demetriou. He set up McGleish, but the striker scuffed his shot wide from eight yards.

Then Rovers broke at the other end, but Jo Kuffour's low shot from the edge of the box lacked venom and Jamie Jones was able to save.

Orient wasted little time in adding their second though. It came in the 51st minute when the Pirates defence failed to clear Chambers' cross from the right and the ball reached Jarvis, whose shot from 14 yards flew through a ruck of players before finding the net.

Orient were inches away from adding a third goal on the hour as McGleish just failed to make contact with another cross from Adams – but it arrived three minutes later as Chris Lines was promptly penalised for a push on the marksman.

Andersen was unlucky again as McGleish's strike from the spot hit the post – but then struck the Dane as it bounced away from goal and flew back into the net.

Rovers used their final two substitutes with just over 20 minutes remaining as Dominic Blizzard replaced Stuart Campbell and Wright came on for Brown, but it was already looking a lost cause.

And that became a certainty seconds later when Demetriou broke clear with only Andersen to beat, calmly planting the ball to the keeper's left for goal number four.

But there was still time for Orient to rub further salt in the wound when substitute Jonathan Tehoue stabbed home number five from Shaun Thornton's cross two minutes from time.

Jones made his first serious save of the night in the dying seconds when he tipped over Kuffour's shot to round off a night of misery for Rovers.

Leyton Orient: Jones, Purches, Chorley, Mkandawire, Chambers, McGleish (Scowcroft 74 ), Thornton, Demetriou, Daniels, Jarvis (Tehoue 74), Adams (Smith 78). Subs: Melligan, Cave-Brown, Briggs, Smith, Morris.

Bristol Rovers: Andersen, Regan, Anthony, Coles, Lescott (Swallow 33), Brown (Wright 69), Campbell (Blizzard 69), Lines, Hughes, Kuffour, Williams. Subs: Wright, Elliott, Blizzard, Clough, Richards, Evans.