Honours even at Orient

Brighton twice fought back from a goal down to earn a well deserved point after putting in a good performance in front of the Sky cameras.

As expected it was a changed side with skipper Dean Hammond, Tommy Elphick and Bas Savage being restored to the starting line up.

The first half was certainly the less entertaining of the two with both sides struggling to carve out many clear chances although we can be pleased with the passing football we played throughout the game.

But the first real chance of the game resulted in a goal when Sean Thornton’s flick played through former Albion loanee Wayne Gray whos thumpng half volley gave Michel Kuipers no chance of saving it.

Brighton responded quickly and George O’Callaghan came desperately close to scoring his first Albion goal when his 20 yard effort brushed the crossbar.

There was also a moment of controversy when referee Tony Bates disallowed what seemed to be a perfectly legitimate goal from Dean Hammond. The Albion skipper was judged to have fouled Alton Thelwell before he headed the ball into the bottom right of the corner.

Half Time: Leyton Orient 1 – 0 Brighton

Orient were off the blocks the quickest in the second half and a thumping strike from Charlie Daniels was well saved by Michel Kuipers to his right hand side.

Dean Wilkins then brought on Jake Robinson for David Martot in right midfield and the Seagulls immediately started to look a little more threatening going forward. Guy Butters and Dean Cox both had chances from a corner but Orient defended well.

But after equally matching them throughout the game Brighton finally drew level through top scorer Nicky Forster. His thumping strike on the turn from outside the box was too good for Stuart Nelson who just managed to get a hand to his shot but it wasn’t enough as we finally got what we deserved.

But we weren’t level for long as immediately Orient restored their one goal advantage through Jason Demetriou. JJ Melligan’s cross was missed by Abions incoming defenders and Orients incoming attackers and found Demetriou who controlled the ball well and calmly placed his shot into the top right hand corner.

But a Brighton side who are full of confidence and belief proved they are no pushovers as 5 minutes later we drew level again. George O’Callaghan’s cross was met by Forster whos header cannoned off the crossbar into the path of Dean Cox who placed his header into the corner from close range.

From then on Brighton looked the more likely to go on and win the game. Forster’s superb lob bounced agonisingly wide whilst Jake Robinson’s long range shot went even closer when it crashed against the crossbar. Then with a few minutes remaining Dean Hammond met an incoming cross and powered a header which brushed just wide of the post.

But for all our dominance late on we can breathe a sigh of relief that we didn’t lose the game in the 93rd minute. A break away from our opponents resulted in a cross finding Wayne Gray free at the back post, but his powerful volley thankfully was hit right at Kuipers who made a good stop to deny them what would have been a very cruel goal on an encouraging Brighton performance.