THERE was disappointment for Orient in the first home game of the new season, as they went down 2-1 to Oldham Athletic.
It was an anti-climax for fans who had queued all along Oliver Road beforehand to get a ticket for this Brisbane Road curtain raiser.
Goals by each half by Keigan Parker and Pawel Abbot, who netted from the penalty spot, left Orient with no points from the game.
But it was not all bad news.
JJ Melligan continued his own rich form by garnering another assist. It takes his tally for the new season up to two, the same numbers of goals as he scored.
And Ryan Jarvis opened his account for the campaign, announcing himself to O's fans with his first league goal in 18 months, after 30 minutes.
Earlier, Tamika Mkandawire might have put the hosts ahead on 10 minutes.
But he headed at keeper Dean Brill, off Melligan's cross from the edge of the 18 yard box.
The effort on was the first chance after a quiet start to the game.
Scott McGleish and Ryan Jarvis led the line, the latest combination to be trialled by boss Geraint Williams.
But it was Keigan Parker for Oldham Athletic who struck first, on 12 minutes.
His speculative shot from 25 yards crept over the goal line after Jamie Jones failed to get a strong hand to the ball.
Oldham turned up the pressure for a period after that. Ben Chorley, alongside Mkandawire in the centre of defence, put himself in the way of a couple of goal bound shots.
But Melligan is a player in form right now.
And he opted to shoot when played in by Jason Demetriou on 18 minutes, after the Cypriot international ran at the heart of Oldham's back line.
But Brill easily gathered the deflected effort and Jimmy Smith, in a great spot eight yards out, was left to rue Melligan's choice, to the man himself.
Smith has said he wants more goals this season and will surely get them if he continues to play as high up the pitch as he did at times here. Once or twice it was him and not the strikers chasing down balls to the Latics keeper.
Orient equalised on the half hour mark.
It was Orient's form man Melligan who played in a tantalising low pass which curved inwards, and it was Ryan Jarvis who stuck out a leg and poked it home from five yards.
It was the perfect start for hitman Jarvis.
In a bruising first half during which referee Graham Scott book no less than five players, there were hardly more shots than there were goals.
Just after the re-start Reuben Hazell went close from a curling Parker cross. He wastefully side-footed his effort over the bar.
Minutes later, Mkandwaire and Jones suffered a communications melt-down and conspired to put Pawel Abbot clean through on goal.
Unluckily for him, Mkandawire's back pass was too strong to gather in time.
But it was second time lucky for him soon afterwards. He fired Oldham ahead from the penalty spot on 58 minutes after Sean Thornton had floored Andy Holdsworth.
The goal was a soft one to concede by Orient, but the visitors had looked the side most likely to score.
Later, Jarvis might have sparked something when he broke into the area from the touch line. Smith and Demetriou awaited his ball but it never came as Brill dived and gathered at Jarvis' feet.
Thornton pressed hard to make a goal after his earlier indiscretion.
On 79 minutes, the Irishman sent a free-kick fizzing just over the bar, from 28 yards. He had just been fouled by his earlier victim, Holdsworth.
Soon afterwards he was floored again, this time in the area, but referee Scott waved away all the appeals.
Substitutes Scowcroft and Patulea toiled away fruitlessly up front as Orient bombed forwards in four minutes of extra time for an equaliser, to no effect.
Jones, Purches, Chorley, Mkandawire, Daniels, Demetriou, Smith, Thornton, Melligan (Townsend), McGleish (65 Scowcroft), Jarvis (74 Patulea) Attendance: 4,016 of which 297 Oldham fans.
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