Leyton Orient 0 - 0 Yeovil Town
Coca-Cola League One

ORIENT battled their way to a creditable point against second placed Yeovil Town on Saturday.

Yeovil displayed their promotion credentials with a dominant first half performance, but the O's stuck to their guns, restricted the visitors to shots from range and grew in stature as the game wore on.

Jabo Ibehre and Wayne Corden could have won it for the hard-working O's, but in the end they were pleased to gain a point against a proficient Glovers side.

Matt Lockwood warmed visiting goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall's gloves with a low drive in the second minute, and a couple of half chances from a Lockwood corner 13 minutes later - with Shane Tudor seeing a shot blocked and then John Mackie heading across the face of goal - signalled a bright start from the O's.

But Glyn Garner had to be alert shortly afterwards to turn Arron Davies' low curler around the post as both sides went in search of an early goal.

It was the Glovers who fashioned the next chance, with Paul Terry releasing Davies after the former Dagenham man got the better of Craig Easton in a midfield tussle.

Davies, who scored the winner the last time the teams met at Brisbane Road, charged clear in the right channel and tried to beat Garner off the near post, but the ball rebounded off the upright and behind via the goalkeeper's leg.

Yeovil were beginning to turn on the style, keeping the ball well in their five-man midfield and Martin Ling responded by bringing on Jason Demetriou for Donny Barnard just 32 minutes in.

But a minute later, the visitors almost nullified Orient's tactical switch when Anthony Barry shot low and towards the bottom left corner.  Garner, though, dived to his right to parry past the post.

For all Yeovil's dominance in terms of possession, they weren't able to create much in the way of clear goalscoring opportunities and Orient were the next to go close, Adam Chambers seeing two shots blocked after the right back smashed a path through on the edge of the box two minutes before the interval.

The second half started in similar fashion and Barry's stinger ten minutes after the break needed a touch from Garner to divert it over the crossbar.

Two minutes later, though, Orient showed their teeth and Ibehre should have done better when Matt Lockwood's cross cut out Mildenhall.  Adam Chambers kept the move alive, skipping past Nathan Jones, and his cut back found Corden, who skied over from the middle of the box.

It was the start of a decent spell from Orient and Corden ws guilty of another miss on 61 when Alexander stole possession on the right touchline and crossed low, only for the winger to again shoot over first time.

Shane Tudor was coming to life, and his rasping drive, following an Alexander knock down on 67, drew a tip-over from Mildenhall.

The former Swindon stopper was by now the busier goalkeeper and he flung himself to his left to stop Adam Chambers' deflected drive 12 minutes from time.

The visitors grew in strength again as the end neared and Martin Cranie so nearly won it for them in the final minute when he rose to meet Martin Brittain's free-kick, and then Garner was called into action again to block Nathan Jones' effort, but the O's held out to secure a well-deserved point.

0	LEYTON ORIENT	COCA-COLA LEAGUE 1		YEOVIL TOWN	0
1	Glyn GARNER	Brisbane Road 18/11/06		Steve MILDENHALL (C)	1
2	Donny BARNARD	Ref: Paul Miller (Beds)		Nathan JONES	3
3	Matt LOCKWOOD YC	Att: 4,842 (734 away)		Terrell FORBES	6
6	John MACKIE (C)			Paul TERRY	7
7	Shane TUDOR			Anthony BARRY	8
8	Craig EASTON			Arron DAVIES	9
9	Gary ALEXANDER			Chris COHEN	11
19	Jabo IBEHRE			Martin BRITTAIN	12
25	Wayne CORDEN			Mark LYNCH	24
26	Adam CHAMBERS YC			Martin CRANIE	28
27	Alton THELWELL			Marcus STEWART	29
	SUBSTITUTES	Replaced (time)		SUBSTITUTES
12	Glenn MORRIS (GK)		7 (90)	Wayne GRAY	10
18	Paul CONNOR	19 (72)	8 (75)	Jean-Paul KALALA YC	14
20	Derek DUNCAN			Brad THOMAS	17
21	Brian SAAH			Danny WEBB	18
24	Jason DEMETRIOU	2 (32)	9 (79)	Lee MORRIS YC	25