Preston North End’s automatic promotion hopes suffered a hiccup after Chris Dagnall’s late equaliser earned struggling Leyton Orient a draw at Deepdale that left Simon Grayson’s side still five points adrift of the top two in League One.
The home side had recovered from a sluggish start and an early goal from Orient’s David Mooney to lead 2-1 through a Jermaine Beckford header and Paul Gallagher’s penalty but the industrious Dagnall’s smart turn and finish 12 minutes from time earned the east London side a useful point in their battle against relegation.
Fabio Liverani’s team had begun brightly and were swiftly rewarded when David Buchanan was dispossessed and Mooney drove forward to the edge of the penalty area before sending an accurate drive beyond the debutant goalkeeper, Sam Johnstone, into the corner of the net.
Preston grew into the game, though their finishing frequently lacked accuracy, and they were eventually level on 23 minutes when Beckford got clear of a static Orient defence to head fiercely in from Gallagher’s inswinging free-kick on the right.
This prompted a period of general Preston dominance until the interval with Gallagher seeing a shot deflected narrowly wide off Josh Wright and Paul Huntingdon heading wide from 10 yards.
It took North End until midway through the second half to gain the lead, though, after Orient had carved out openings of their own after the break, notably when Mooney’s sharp low shot brought a smart save at the near post from Johnstone. The home side’s pressure paid off when Kyel Reid skipped past Scott Cuthbert, who clumsily brought him down inside the box. Gallagher lashed the penalty down the middle past Gary Woods.
Preston were now firmly on top, with Reid tormenting Cuthbert in particular and Gallagher and Beckford always a threat, but they were caught cold when the Orient substitute Gianvito Plasmati flicked on a long ball into the path of Dagnall, who turned and fired across Johnstone into the bottom corner.
Preston were reduced to snatched half-chances in the closing stages while Orient were not afraid to attack themselves as they held out to earn a morale-boosting draw in what has been a difficult season for them.
