Orient were held in Carl Fletcher’s first home game in charge, as they drew 1-1 with Carlisle United at the Breyer Group Stadium. Josh Wright’s early penalty had given the O’s the lead, but his goal was cancelled out by Jack Iredale’s strike just minutes into the second half.
Fletcher made only one change from the mid-week defeat away at Plymouth Argyle with George Marsh replacing Dale Gorman in midfield. Myles Judd also returned to the squad, following a spell out injured, and he took Hector Kyprianou’s place on the bench.
Orient started the game well and could have had an early penalty, but their appeals were turned away after James Brophy went down in the box in the fourth minute.
Just two minutes later though, referee David Rock, was left with no choice but to the point to the spot, after Brophy again went down following a clumsy challenge, this time from defender, Jarrad Branthwaite.
Six For The Season
Josh Wright stepped up to take the penalty and he calmly slotted the ball past Adam Collin in the Carlisle goal to bag his sixth goal of the season and give the O’s an early advantage.
Orient continued their fine start throughout the early stages and some great interplay between Joe Widdowson and Brophy led to the latter finding Matt Harrold in the box, but his effort was well turned away by Collin.
The O’s came very close to adding a second, when Marvin Ekpiteta was foiled in his attempt to scramble home, before Josh Coulson swivelled and hit a shot just wide of the Carlisle goal.
Harrold had another chance in the 25th minute when he was found in the penalty area by Craig Clay, but he was crowded out by opposition defenders as he tried to get a shot away.
The away side struggled to get a foothold in the game throughout the first half, and it wasn’t until the 39th minute that they had their first real effort at goal. However, Dean Brill was equal to Mike Jones’ effort.
Changes
Carlisle manager, Steven Pressley, made a change at the break bringing on Olufela Olomola for Jarrad Branthwaite. This saw the Cumbrians make the switch from a back three to a back four.
The alteration had an instant impact as just two minutes after the restart his side were level. Jack Iredale tucked the ball home from Jack Bridge’s corner to get his side level, somewhat against the run of play.
Carlisle looked a different team in the second half maintaining their fast start throughout the opening of the second period, and in an attempt to regain an advantage, Fletcher brought on Jordan Maguire-Drew in place of James Dayton.
Ten minutes later, the O’s Head Coach made another change this time Matt Harrold came off for Louis Dennis.
Orient struggled to regain their first half dominance and with ten minutes remaining Fletcher made his final substitution with Dale Gorman replacing George Marsh in central midfield.
Denied At The Death
The best chance of the second half fell to Brophy, who after being played in by Clay, was denied by a fantastic save from Collin in the 84th minute.
The visitors then followed that up immediately with a good chance of their own, substitute Olufela Olomola, sprang the offside trap but his effort was stopped by the legs of Brill, in what was his 100th appearance for the club.
Deep into stoppage time the O’s had a chance to win it, however Gorman couldn’t keep his shot down and Orient had to settle for a point in Fletcher’s first home game at the helm.
Next up for Orient is a trip to Lancashire this weekend to take on the league’s bottom side, Morecambe.
LEYTON ORIENT: Brill, Ekpiteta, Coulson, Happe, Widdowson, Clay, Marsh (Gorman 83″), Wright, Dayton (Maguire-Drew 63”), Brophy, Harrold (Dennis 72”)
BENCH: Sargeant, Judd, Turley, Alabi
BOOKED:
GOALS: Wright 7”
CARLISLE UNITED: Collin, Iredale, Mellish, Thomas (Hope 83″), Jones, McKirdy, Jones, Webster, Bridge, Branthwaite (Olomola 46″), Sagaf (Knight-Percival 87″)
BENCH: Gray, Elliot, Scougall, Sorensen
BOOKED: Sagaf 28”, Thomas 69”, Webster 79”
GOALS: Iredale 47”
REF: David Rock ATT: 5,765 (552)
