Orient hold onto point against Dons

It was far from the heady heights of Saturday's win, but last night's 2-2 draw with MK Dons keeps the O's steadily moving up the League 1 table to safety.

The back-log of festive fixtures means we hardly had time to forget the excitement of the weekend's result before MK Dons visited Brisbane Road on Tuesday night.

Despite seeming like an easier test on paper than the Owls, play-off hopefuls MK Dons proved to be much tougher opposition in what was a hard fought draw.

The away side started the brighter, getting into their passing game quickly and denying the O's a sight of the ball.

And the Dons dominance paid off after 7 minutes when they opened the scoring with a simply stunning goal. Stephen Gleeson's 25-yard volley flew past Jamie Jones in the O's goal to shock the home fans and players.

But the O's havn't gone on a run of losing 1 in 12 without building a bit of confidence and that confidence paid off immediately.

Jimmy Smith, playing off the right of midfield, a role that he has made his own in recent weeks, fed the ball into Scott McGleish. The veteran striker benefited from the MK Dons' defender slipping to clear his path to goal and McGleish slotted the ball home calmly.

The O's goal tally looked like it would double immediately when Dean Cox rattled the post with a shot from the edge of the box.

But Cox was involved in the O's next attack, this time setting up a goal. Charlie Daniels stinging shot was palmed away for a corner. Cox's first attempt was cleared but the winger delivered the ball into the box a second time and defender Terrell Forbes was there to head home.

With two goals in five minutes it looked like the O's would push on and run riot. But after the frantic start to the game, the pace dropped off as both teams struggled to push on and add to their goals for the evening.

Orient were the better team in the first period but their night was soured by the injury to captain Stephen Dawson after 39 minutes. Dawson was clattered to the floor but decided to battle on.

However after only a minute it was clear that he couldn't continue, limping off with a dead leg to be replaced by Harry Kane. This seemed a strange substitution at the time and that still seemed the case at the full-time whistle.

Jones made sure the O's went into the break in the lead when he tipped former O's favourite Jabo Ibehre's header round the post.

But there was nothing Jones could do 11 minutes after the break. Orient gave away a cheap free-kick and Sean O'Hanlon headed home the resulting set-piece.

The O's would be disappointed by conceding a scrappy goal but it was the least the visitors deserved for their second-half effort. The Dons dominated the play in the second-period, seeing much more of the ball whilst not creating a clear-cut opening to grab the winner.

Whilst the Dons pressed, Orient had little impact on the game after the break. Cox came closest to adding a third for the O's, his curling shot missing the post just after the hour mark.

Orient's good form kept the hopes of the O's creating a scoring chance alive but in truth it was a very disappointing second-half performance after recent good showings, especially at home.

Manager Russell Slade was notably absent from Orient's bench the whole game (and I wish him a speedy recovery as he was sorely missed) and with Dawson off the pitch after just 39 minutes, we lacked any direction or influence.

The decision to play Kane in the centre of midfield seemed odd and backfired on Kevin Nugent. He looked lost and failed to have any influence on the game, other than showing a few good touches.

The decision may have been because the O's management clearly don't think Paul-Jose Mpoku can play a full game or even 50 minutes of the game. Instead they left Mpoku on the bench until the 76th minute.

Kane's arrival also showed a lack of depth in the O's squad when hit by injuries, making Dawson's first-half knock even more worrying.

But back to the game. After 15 minutes of last night the draw would have seemed like two points dropped but after the second-half, last night's result must be seen as a point gained.



The Teams:

Leyton Orient: Jones; Whing, Forbes, Chorley, Daniels; Spring; Smith, Dawson (Kane 39), Cox (Mpoku 76); Revell, McGleish (Téhoué 68)

MK Dons: Martin; Woodards (O'Hanlon 46), Doumbe, Lewington, Chicksen; Carrington; Guy (Amoo 66), Gleeson, Leven, Chadwick (Vine 70); Ibehre

After quite a bit of thought (as no player came to mind immediately) I have gone for Dean Cox. The winger was lively until he was subbed, always looking for the ball to cut inside and take on players.

His partnership with Charlie Daniels is growing more effective by the game and he set-up O's second goal for Forbes. 'We're a little disappointed to throw away a lead, but we were up against a decent side.

'We didn't play at our best, but we ground out a point.

'Saturday's effort possibly took it out of us a bit, but we do have a fit bunch of lads.

'We have to get used to this schedule, because we're going to be playing Saturday-Tuesday for a while.

'We have a small squad and we can only rotate around the players a little bit, but everyone's in the same position in this League really.'

What did you think of the game last night? Leave your comments below...

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