Yeovil Town 3 - 3 Leyton Orient
Coca-Cola League One

ORIENT twice came from behind to salvage a point from a six-goal thriller at Yeovil Town on Saturday.

Yeovil enjoyed the better of the opening hour of the Huish Park clash, but Orient never let them out of their sights and fought back well to claim a draw.

Scott McGleish nodded them into an early lead, but Yeovil overturned the deficit before the half was up through Gavin Tomlin's penalty and Jon Obika's close range finish.

A stunning solo goal from Andros Townsend - a one time Yeovil loan player - made it 2-2 and Orient went in at the break looking to build on a position they were perhaps fortunate to hold.

The hosts remained on top at the start of the second period and Danny Schofield fired them back into the lead, but once again Orient fought back and Ryan Jarvis' equaliser meant they would go home with a point to show for their efforts.

Yeovil fashioned a chance to establish an early lead, but Andrew Welsh swept a left footed shot over after being set up by Schofield eight yards from goal

Orient benefited from that miss immediately, moving the ball downfield from the goal kick to break the deadlock with just five minutes on the clock.

Townsend collected the ball from JJ Melligan in the middle of the park before feeding Stephen Purches on the right. Purches' cross was whipped in with pace and McGleish rose in the centre to steer a header over keeper Alex McCarthy's dive and into the net.

The home side wasted little time in hitting back though, with Welsh's reverse ball giving striker Obika a run at the back line.  Charlie Daniels bundled the Glovers man over inside the box, referee Steve Bratt pointed to the spot and Tomlin converted from 12 yards.

It was an entertaining start to the game with Yeovil looking dangerous when they came forward and Gavin Murtagh had a goalbound shot blocked on 23 minutes after O's keeper Jamie Jones committed a foul outside the box and a free kick came in from the left.

Obika, like Townsend a Tottenham Hotspur youngster out on loan, was proving a handful and his 32nd minute cross was headed wide by Tomlin, who would have been disappointed not to have made a cleaner connection.

Two minutes later Jones had to dive to his left to save Craig Alcock's header after Welsh delivered a cross from the left and Yeovil had recovered well from their early setback.

James Scowcroft forced McCarthy's first real save with 36 minutes on the clock when a good passage of play from the visitors ended with the striker turning on the edge of the box and shooting tamely with his right foot.

But just when it looked as though Orient were getting a handle on the game, they saw a corner break down when Townsend lost the ball on the edge of the box. Yeovil broke with three men to Orient's two in defence and Welsh passed square for Obika to finish.

However, just like Orient earlier in the half, Yeovil couldn't hold on to their lead for long and a moment of individual brilliance from Townsend drew the O's level before the break.

The England U19 international's threat when running with the ball was well known to the hosts, but they had no answer when he collected the ball on the left flank, darted away from his man and cut infield before unleashing a super right footed shot that beat McCarthy down low to his right.

Yeovil started the second period back on top and their pressure paid dividends on 52 minutes when they moved back into a deserved lead.

Right back Alcock's run to support the attack played a big part in the goal as he received the ball in space and knocked the ball into the area for Schofield to collect, turn and curl a well-placed effort out of Jones' reach inside the far post.

The topsy-turvy nature of the game wasn't to end there, though, and Orient were again level within minutes.

Super sub Jarvis was the man on target - just a week after netting his first League goal in over a year - sidefooting home after Mkandawire collected Jason Demetriou's cross at the far post and knocked back across goal.

It was surprising that it took until five minutes from time for the next serious chance to be created and Orient were unlucky not to make it count when Ben Chorley's drive following a half cleared corner took a deflection and looked set to creep in until McCarthy pounced on the ball with Adrian Patulea lurking.

Yeovil broke straight away and Welsh sent a 20-yard effort a foot wide of the post, while Townsend drilled off target at the other end, but neither team could find a game-clinching seventh goal and the points were shared.

Yeovil: McCarthy; Alcock, Forbes, Caulker, Jones; Schofield (Murray 86), O'Callaghan, Murtagh (Hutchins 90+3), Welsh; Tomlin (Williams 81), Obika
Subs: Martin (GK), Lindegaard, McCollin

Goals: Tomlin pen 11, Obika 39, Schofield 52

Booked: Murtagh

Leyton Orient: Jones; Purches, Chorley, Mkandawire, Daniels; Melligan, Demetriou, Smith, Townsend, McGleish (Patulea 61), Scowcroft (Jarvis 56)
Subs: Morris (GK), Ashworth, Cave-Brown, Pires, Baker

Goals: McGleish 5, Townsend 42, Jarvis 60

Booked: Smith

Referee: Steve Bratt