With Friday night's match at Scunthorpe having showed some relative promise in the way that Yeovil Town had performed against the league leaders, Russell Slade chose to stick with the same eleven players that had started that match, albeit with some rotating around within the midfield positions to revert back to the diamond formation. Orient arrived at Huish Park sitting four points above the relegation zone and so certainly not safe from any threat of making an early return to League Two.

A third minute free kick by Nathan Jones saw Terry Skiverton outwit Orient captain John Mackie in the penalty box but he couldn't direct his header on target. Then straight down the other end, Shane Tudor's placed shot was placed badly wide as he got in space on the break. Then another Nathan Jones cross was inches away from being connected with Wayne Gray on the far post, as an ended to end start to the game ensued.

Orient were unsurprisingly playing with a defensive looking formation with four centre-backs in their back line and them regularly keeping men behind the ball. Yeovil's reaction was to push their full-backs high up the field to try and squeeze the play into the Orient half. That allowed the Londoners to counterattack well and on one occasion Ryan Jarvis managed to get in on a breakaway but he shot straight at Steve Mildenhall with a tame attempt on goal. The way Orient were managing to do this was rather concerning given that this is the way so many teams have picked off Yeovil this season, and despite plenty of possession being held by the Glovers, they weren't exactly doing too much with it.

Midway through the first half though, Yeovil finally unlocked the Leyton defence via the boot of Chris Cohen. Playing a one-two with Matthew Rose he got down the flank and put in an excellent ball into Wayne Gray. Gray couldn't quite keep his shot down as he stretched for the ball, and the attempt went over the bar.

Yeovil weren't being helped by some rather suspect decisions being made by referee Keith Stroud who had the crowd's hackles up early - giving fouls that looked to be genuine connections with the ball and the majority against the Glovers which is never a good way to win friends at Huish Park.

But right on the half hour mark, disaster struck with another Orient chance where they advanced from a deep position to hit Yeovil on yet another break. A long ball forward to Gary Alexander saw the big striker perform a layoff that fell straight into the path of Ryan JARVIS who had already showed his pace during earlier phases by getting in behind the Yeovil defence. He took advantage of the through ball, running through and seeing off a last-gasp attempt by Terry Skiverton to win the ball and slotted the ball home to near silence around Huish Park. 0-1 down and the Glovers were going to have to do what they had yet to do this season at home - to come from a goal down.

Orient should have doubled their lead five minutes later when Craig Easton took advantage of indecision between Terry Skiverton and Nathan Jones by nipping between the two but thankfully lifting his attempt well over the bar from six yards out.

But the half somewhat fizzled out after that Orient goal with the Yeovil players looking somewhat dis-spirited by going a goal down yet again in a match that they had previously been relatively comfortable without creating too much. But worryingly after the goal, they looked a shadow of themselves and in all honesty were lucky that the opener was all Orient had got.

Russell Slade presumably wasn't too happy in the way he half had ended, making the decision to withdraw Lee Morris and Marcus Stewart in favour of Darryl Knights and Anthony Barry in an attempt to allow the youthful side of Yeovil's squad to do what the experienced part of the squad was unable to do. Chris Cohen switched to the right wing as Arron Davies moved to the left, with Yeovil reverting to a standard 4-4-2 line-up.

The introduction of Knights made an early impact, with two early efforts from the Ipswich man. The first saw him turn with his back to goal, producing a flick with his boot that Glyn Garner smothered. But Garner found Knights' next attempt far more hot to handle as Wayne Gray teamed up well, with the shot by Knights palmed away by Garner for a corner.

Arron Davies finally burst into life in his new wider position and he produced a couple of whipped crosses that deflected across the penalty box causing some anxiety for the Orient defence. The visitors were trying to slow the game down and referee Keith Stroud managed probably his first positive decision of the game when he decided goalkeeper Glyn Garner had delayed one too many goal kicks, producing a yellow card for the custodian. Very quickly afterwards, Luke Chambers was booked for a foul on Arron Davies as he sprinted down the wing, with Chambers crudely taking him out.

Yeovil Town had yet another penalty appeal turned down when Terry Skiverton got a shove in the back by Brian Saah as a cross into the box saw the Yeovil captain knocked off his stride. Referee Keith Stroud with a perfect view stared right at the incident and inexplicably gave a free kick against Skiverton for handball. Minutes later another contentious decision as Nathan Jones was felled in the penalty area but again Stroud ignored the appeals.

As Yeovil built up a head of steam, Wayne Gray's strong run into the box saw him fire on goal, with the ball striking the foot of the post as Glyn Garner sprawled to his right in vain. Orient eventually scrambled the ball to safety, hacking it out for a corner as the Westland Stand spectators roared their enthusiasm at the forward play the Glovers were creating in this half.

With 15 minutes to go Yeovil finally got what they have failed to get all season - a penalty! Nathan Jones again cut in from the flank and again weaved his way into the box, beating two players as he entered the area. Adam Tann lunged in and even Keith Stroud couldn't fail to point to the spot. Up stepped Wayne GRAY with a lifeline and he calmly slotted home for the equalising goal and nothing more than Yeovil deserved.

Referee Stroud had to again speak to Glyn Garner about timewasting with the keeper already on a yellow card for an earlier offence, and Orient made a substitution to try and change their tactics for the final 15 minutes. Nathan Jones and Orient's Adam Chambers were booked after they scrapped for the ball with Jones wanting to take a free kick quickly and the Orient man refusing to give him possession. Both landed in the book - the Orient player for timewasting whilst Jones was booked for squaring up to him in the aftermath.

With seven minutes to go, and the game reaching a great climax, Yeovil struck gold-dust with a moment of luck. Orient captian John MACKIE had only just returned from suspension following a sending off, but he completed a miserable comeback - slicing the ball into his own net as he attempted to clear an Arron Davies shot across the face of the Orient penalty area. Huish Park exploded with relief and in the understandably enthusiastic celebrations, the churlish referee Keith Stroud felt he had to get in on the act with Arron Davies booked for over celebration. It's a point of debate as to whether Davies will be allowed to keep the goal or not - the Press Association have given him the strike, but most around the ground seemed convinced that Mackie's touch was the vital one.

As the game closed out, Brian Saah was booked for bringing down Darryl Knights as he sprinted past the defender. Orient now had to change around a second time with another substitution and another change of formation as they were forced to switch from mass defending to mass attacking in the final five minutes Saah really should have been off the field when he recklessly fouled Chris Cohen close to the corner flag but referee Stroud bottled the decision to bring out a second yellow card for the defender, having carded him so near the end.

Shane Tudor hit the deck as four minutes of injury time commenced, with Scott Guyett who had been introduced as a late substitute caught out as the Orient man ran across the face of Guyett, but thankfully Keith Stroud again failed to give a penalty. Once again it looked like he should have. Then almot with the final kick of the game Gary Alexander inexplicably got into space in the box as Yeovil suddenly got a touch of the jitters, but Steve Mildenhall saved his shot on goal superbly to keep Yeovil's three points in tact.

At last several hoodoos were broken on Easter Monday deep into the season. Finally Yeovil have been awarded a penalty this season after seemingly dozens of fruitless appeals throughout the preceding 40+ matches. Secondly and probably most importantly, Yeovil managed for the first time this season, to come from behind in a match at Huish Park - something that they must build on if they are to deal with the twists and turns of the remainder of the season. Rather curiously now though, manager Russell Slade has a headache ahead of Saturday's trip to Ashton Gate. Does he put his experienced duo of Lee Morris and Marcus Stewart in for the match against Bristol City with Stewart fired up against his old club? Or does he rely on two rookies in Darryl Knights and Anthony Barry who were both instrumental in transforming the Glovers fortunes and relieving the tension around Huish Park.

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