Notts County and Leyton Orient battled out a 1-1 draw at Meadow Lane this afternoon, with Mike Edwards netting his sixth goal of the season in a fairly scrappy affair. Edwards was on hand to convert a Chris Palmer corner with fifteen minutes to go after Orient's on-loan Scunthorpe winger Wayne Corden had crashed them ahead.

Both sides had chances to win it after Edwards' finish, but the match ended all square and denting Orient's hopes of moving back into the top three of League Two.

Notts began with Pipe and Sheridan operating on the wings, while Crooks and Needham provided the bite in the middle of the park. Doyle reverted back to right-back, while Scoffham and Chillingworth lined up again in attack.

The opening ten or so minutes wasn't exactly littered with chances, with neither side carving out a single goalscoring chance. Both sides played some decent football, but with no end product. Orient had the first effort which was way off target by Matthew Lockwood, but the first real attempt of the game fell to Daniel Chillingworth after persistent work by Liam Needham created the chance.

He robbed Miller of the ball on the bar-line and laid the ball into Chillingworth's path, but the effort could only find the side netting from around eight yards although the angle was tight. Scoffham then tested Garner with a long-range effort, but with little power Garner had time to position himself and make the stop.

Orient had a lucky escape moments later when Pipe delivered a clever cross into the box which on the bounce former Magpie Michael Simpson missed due to the bounce of the ball which presented a chance for Liam Needham, but he headed wide of the mark from around twelve yards with Garner scampering across his line.

At the other end, Baudet did well to block a thunderous shot from Miller which looked to be sneaking into the bottom corner. The Frenchman cleared for a corner, which Notts defended well. Easton flashed a long-range effort wide, but early on Notts were looked solid and defending well in numbers.

Scoffham again tested Garner on the half-hour mark with a neat turn to deceive Mackie, but his effort lacked power and the former Bury goalkeeper got down well to his right to hold onto the shot.

The half ended with few chances being created by either side, but at stages both sides looked good on the attack as well as at the back. Scoffham was looked a nuisance with his constant running down the channels, while for Orient Connor and Alexander were combining well in attack. Corden was delivering some excellent crosses, but there was no-one on the end of the centres to give Orient the advantage.

In all fairness, it was fairly scrappy. The second half started disastrously for Notts with a cross from the left by Lockwood eventually found its way to Corden, who thumped a left-foot volley from just inside the box beyond Pilkington's reach and into the back of the net. It was a soft goal to concede from the Magpies' point of view, but for Orient it was a wonder strike to get their automatic promotion chase back on track.

Edwards Celebrates His Goal With Andy White & Liam Needham

Notts responded by pumping a number of balls into the Orient box, but had little to show for their efforts with Sheridan testing Garner with a tame header and Chillingworth heading just over following a cross from David Pipe.

It could have been two for Orient had Pilkington not come to the rescue with a good stop to deny Alexander after he was sent clean through by Simpson. The ball through split Notts apart, but the Orient striker failed to keep his composure and fired pretty much straight at Pilkington.

Orient were having a good spell of pressure at that stage, and Corden could have made it 2-0 but his goalbound curling effort was blocked by Alexander. Notts broke instantly with Sheridan, but the final ball was lacking and Orient cleared their lines.

Thordarson made a double change soon afterwards, with Palmer and White replacing Sheridan and Chillingworth as Notts sought a fresh approach. White provided more height up the front, while Palmer was introduced to provide the similar sort of crosses he did last weekend at Northampton.

Scoffham and Mackie were both booked for an off-the-ball incident as tempers frayed, with both sides going all out for a goal to swing the game one way or another. Orient made a change with Corden being replaced by Shane Tudor for his first appearance since an injury picked up a month ago.

Doyle joined Scoffham in the book for a challenge on Joe Keith, but moments later on seventy-four a corner from Palmer was knocked back across the box by Steve Scoffham via a deflection, and from a few yards out Mike Edwards had the simple task of nodding the ball over the line to level matters for goal number six of the season.

It was probably deserved for their persistence, and the strike was our first for three matches but we could well have been behind again had Pilkington not made an excellent reaction stop to deny Connor with eight minutes to go. Simpson did well to get away from Doyle and supply a dangerous cross into the striker's path. Despite the good connection Pilkington saved well, and smothered the rebound for an onrushing Orient player could follow up.

With seven to go the shattered and drained Steve Scoffham was replaced by Dan Martin with David Pipe moving forward into attack to replace him. Ibehre came on for Alexander as Martin Ling's side went for fresh legs up the front, while Ullathorne was booked for dissent after contesting an offside decision.

Mike Edwards almost put through his own net with just a few minutes remaining after a break by Orient down the right, but the Notts goalscorer got lucky and the ball scooped just over the upright. From the corner, Notts broke quickly with Needham forcing a corner, but Palmer curled the flag-kick out of play.

Notts County: Pilkington, Pipe, Edwards, Baudet (C), Doyle, Crooks, Scoffham, Ullathorne, Needham, Sheridan, Chillingworth.
Subs: Marshall, Palmer, White, O'Callaghan, Martin.
Booked: Ullathorne, Doyle, Scoffham.
Sent Off: None.

Leyton Orient: Garner, Lockwood, Simpson, Mackie (C), Corden, Easton, Alexander, Keith, Zakuani, Miller, Connor
Subs: Barnard, Morris, Tudor, McMahon, Ibehre.
Booked: Mackie.
Sent Off: None.

Referee: Mr G Sutton (Lincolnshire)

Attendance: 5,007 (892 Away)

nottscountyfc.co.uk Man of the Match: David Pipe