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Huddersfield Town squandered a two-goal lead against Leyton Orient at the Galpharm Stadium and Terriers manager Lee Clark placed the blame squarely at defender Jamie McCombe.

The big defender was shown a straight red after an off-the-ball incident with Orient striker George Porter. I didn't personally see the incident but whilst Orient were prepared to take a corner McCombe jostled with Porter which resulted in the Town defender throwing Porter on the floor.

McCombe's sending off was undoubtedly a factor in Town dropping two points and I am not condoning his actions but it seems unfair to put all the blame squarely at his door.

Town never really got out of first gear the entire match but nevertheless they were looking comfortable for the three points with going into a two-goal lead thanks to Alan Lee and Jack Hunt.

But after the sending off of McCombe in the 84th minute the game turned on its head. From the resulting corner Orient substitute Kevin Lisbie was left unmarked to head the ball home and a minute into the added on five Lisbie set up Ben Chorley who lashed a shot into the bottom corner to share the spoils.

The win would have moved Town into second place but the draw has now see The Terriers slip to 8th in League One but on the bright side the draw extends their unbeaten run to 35, the second-best in Football League history.

Lee Clark had stuck with the same players that had took four points from two away games at Sheffield United and MK Dons the previous week with the only one change being Tommy Miller instead of Anton Robinson on the bench. There was no place for either winger Donal McDermott and defender Peter Clarke.

Town didn't create a great number of clear-cut chances in the first half. Within the first five minutes Danny Ward's cross found Alan Lee but the striker failed to get his header on target.

With ten minutes gone a lovely neat passing play resulted in Oscar Gobern playing a one-two with Scott Arfield and the former Southampton man rattled the Orient crossbar with a powerful drive from the edge of the box.

Eventually Town took the lead on 22 minutes with Alan Lee scoring his third goal of the season courtesy of a great run by defender Jack Hunt. The academy graduate beat both Dean Cox and then Elliott Omozusi down the right before charging towards the byline and his excellent cross found Lee at the back post who headed past Lee Butcher.

Orient's chances in the first half came mostly came from Town errors. Goalkeeper Ian Bennett had to produce a smart save at the feet of Matt Spring after the midfielder had been threaded through by Cox. Then Bennett's poor kick was pounced on by Porter and when the striker was tackled by Antony Kay in the Town box, the O's tried desperately in vain to claim a penalty.
A mix-up between Calum Woods and Kay allowed another opening for Porter but his cross across the face of goal failed to find anyone.

Porter did have the ball in the Town net in the 65th minute after good play from Mooney and Stephen Dawson with the latter releasing Porter through on goal but his finish was chalked off by the linesman flagging for offside.

Just after the break Gary Roberts replaced Danny Ward and the former Bolton winger didn't look happy about being substituted and stormed off down the tunnel.

Just three minutes after Porter's effort was ruled out for offside Town doubled their lead and it seemed at this point that all three points would be in the bag. The move stemmed from down the left flank with Damien Johnson laying off the ball to Hunt and the right-back fired in to the top corner from the edge of the Orient box.

Gary Roberts had the ball in the O's net on 75 minutes but the goal was not to stand as the linesman flagged for offside. It looked a tight decision and it was a lovely neat chipped finish by the winger.

Orient goalkeeper Butcher then had to deny sub Jordan Rhodes with a low smart save after Gobern's cross was nodded into the striker's path by Arfield.

A third goal would have made the match out of reach for the visitors but McCombe was sent off in the 84th minute after hauling down Porter whilst Orient were preparing to take a corner. McCombe has since said that Porter had grabbed McCombe's private area which to which McCombe retaliated with Porter hitting the deck like a sack of spuds.

With McCombe given his marching orders Lee Clark threw on Liam Cooper for his first outing in a Town shirt in place of Roberts but from the resulting corner O's sub Kevin Lisbie lost his marker to head home past Bennett from close range.

With the forth official highlighting there would be five minutes of injury time Orient struck the equalizer to rescue a point. With the Town players stood ball watching Lisbie set up Chorley waiting unmarked on the edge of the Town box and the defender lashed a shot into the left hand corner of the net.

Sean's Star Man - Jack Hunt
The right-back had a solid game against Orient and his pace was causing the visitors all sorts of problems. Did superbly to set up Alan Lee for the first and took himself took his goal well with a sweetly struck shot.

Teams:

Town: Bennett, Woods, McCombe, Kay, Hunt, Ward (Roberts 56, Cooper 85), Gobern, Johnson, Arfield, Novak (Rhodes 68), Lee.

Leyton Orient: Butcher, Omozusi, Chorley, Forbes, McSweeney, Porter, Dawson, Spring, Laird, Cox, Mooney (Lisbie 70).
Subs not used: Lovelock, Odubajo, Cester.

Attendance: 12,269
Referee: R Lewis.