Leyton Orient 2 - 2 Northampton Town
Coca-Cola League One
TAMIKA MKANDAWIRE scored Orient's 5,000th Football League goal to cap an impressive comeback from two down and preserve the club's unbeaten start to the season.
Northampton looked set to end Orient's undefeated sequence when they scored twice from corners in the first half through Poul Hubertz and Chris Doig, but Orient responded strongly and hit back right after half time.
Adam Chambers crashed home his first of the season to cut the deficit on 52, and Mkandawire sidefooted home five minutes later to level the match.
Both sides had chances to win in an open finish, but both will probably be happy with a point.
Northampton started well and left back Daniel Jones thumped an effort just wide of the post from 20 yards after seven minutes.
Eight minutes later the Cobblers were rewarded for their bright start when Hubertz darted to the near post to meet Jones' corner with an unstoppable header.
Orient were almost level within a minute, but Adam Boyd couldn't stretch far enough to get a touch on Wayne Gray's low driven cross.
And with 19 minutes on the clock, Northampton took advantage of some more slack O's marking from a corner to add a second.
Central defender Doig was the man to profit this time, finding space at the far post to knock home Jones' delivery.
Boyd wasted a glorious chance to halve the deficit on the half-hour, but he could only shoot straight at away stopper Mark Bunn after JJ Melligan's deflected shot fell to him in front of goal.
11 minutes later, Bunn came to his side's rescue again, saving from Gray after the O's striker had been played through on goal.
Andy Kirk shot wide at the other end, but Orient came so close to getting the boost they needed on the stroke of half-time when Chambers' long-range drive was touched onto the post by Bunn.
The O's started the second period equally positively, and Gray shot just over the bar after swivelling well on the edge of the box.
With 52 minutes on the clock, Chambers hauled Orient back into the contest when he followed the ball in to crash home after Bunn parried a Jason Demetriou stinger.
Orient were buoyed and a minute later, Bunn stretched well to tip Paul Terry's curler over the top.
60 seconds later Bunn blocked a spectacular close range volley from Boyd and Terry slammed the rebound wide.
The home side's pressure was taking its toll on the visitors' backline and they eventually crumbled on 57, failing to clear a corner from the O's.
Wayne Corden calmly squared to Mkandawire, who kept his cool to slot home with the help of a deflection and write his name in the history books as the goalscorer of Orient's landmark goal.
Martin Ling's men looked capable of pushing on for the winner, but Northampton regrouped and began to ask questions of the home defence once again.
Nelson had to show good speed off his line to cut out a couple of dangerous through balls, but Orient did well to restrict the visitors to long range efforts.
At the other end, Demetriou and Efe Echanomi both had efforts deflected away from danger as the O's had to settle for a point - something they would have taken after 20 minutes.
Leyton Orient: Nelson; Purches (Demetriou 12), Thelwell, Mkandawire, Palmer; Melligan, Chambers, Terry, Corden (Echanomi 82); Gray, Boyd
Subs: Daniels, Morris (GK), Oji
Goals: Chambers (52), Mkandawire (57)
Booked: Demetriou
Northampton: Bunn; Crowe, Hughes, Doig, Jones; Henderson (Larkin 60), Burnell (Gilligan 78), Bradley Johnson, Holt (Dolman 71); Kirk, Hubertz
Subs: Dunn (GK), Brett Johnson
Goals: Hubertz (15), Doig (19)
Booked: Henderson, Jones, Crowe, Hubertz
Referee: Andre Marriner (West Midlands)
Attendance: 5,170 (634 away)
