Leyton Orient 1-1 Blackpool: Seasiders bag late equaliser to claim point on the road
Blackpool drew 1-1 with Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road.
Ashley Fletcher was on hand with a late equaliser to help Blackpool to a 1-1 draw away to Leyton Orient.
Aaron Connolly had given the home side the lead in the 23rd minute, but saw his opener cancelled out in the 93rd minute.
The East London outfit had to play the vast majority of the second half with 10 men, following Tayo Adaramola’s red card, allowing Ian Evatt’s side the opportunity to find an unlikely route back into the contest.
Both teams had half chances inside the opening couple of minutes. Zac Ashworth failed to generate enough power with a free kick to catch Killian Cahill out at his front post, while, down the other end, Dan Happe placed a headed attempt just wide of Bailey Peacock Farrell’s goal.
The Blackpool shot stopper soon had his first on target to contend with, as Michael Craig rolled an effort comfortably into his path following a swift move forward from the home side.
Further efforts on the edge of the box from Tyreeq Bakinson and Connolly also proved straightforward for the Northern Ireland international to collect.
The latter of the two made the most of his next shooting opportunity, with a side-footed attempt from the forward curling its way past Peacock-Farrell.
Blackpool’s first reply to falling behind was a Fraser Horsfall header - which landed safely into Cahill’s hands.
Immediately after the restart, Orient had their numbers reduced, with Adaramola sent off for a second bookable offence.
On the back of this, a golden opportunity quickly fell to Fletcher, but the forward was denied at close-range by Cahill.
From there, the Seasiders were limited to mainly half chances, with little intensity on display to find an equaliser.
Hayden Coulson, Andy Lyons and Michael Ihiekwe all put efforts just wide of the target in the final half an hour.
There was a late chance for Charlie Wellens to strengthen Orient’s lead, but his first-time strike was tame and easily saved.
Lyons came close to immediately punishing the wasted chance, but Cahill did just about enough to keep out a close-range header.
In the final stages, Fletcher did make sure that let off counted for something, as he slotted in from close-range to give Blackpool a rare point away from home.
Blackpool FC: Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Michael Ihiekwe, Fraser Horsfall (61’), Olly Casey, CJ Hamilton (45’), Jordan Brown, George Honeyman (77’), Emil Hansson (61’), Zac Ashworth (45’), Tom Bloxham, Ashley Fletcher.
Substitutes: Franco Ravizzoli, Andy Lyons (45’), James Husband (77’), Lee Evans (61’), Hayden Coulson (45’), Scott Banks (61’), Terry Bondo.