Not for the first time this season, this was an encounter which left opinions pretty much polarised. If you are a member of the half-full brigade, there are, for sure, numerous reasons to be cheerful. The Tigers are third in the table, six games unbeaten, looked in trouble only sporadically last night despite having the non-lion's share of the leather for much of the second half, and, also not for the first time this season, secured more reward from the fixture than we in all probability would have done last season thanks to our own increased resilience, and after a worryingly inept series of performances Ben Burgess looked a bit more like his old self despite ploughing a lonely furrow for long spells of the game and once again pleasingly got himself onto the scoresheet.

The truth, as ever, lies somewhere in between. If you want it summed up in a sentence, City gained a hard-earned point and, on the whole, looked solid against determined opposition, but played to their evident strengths only sporadically, and their failure to be more adventurous in the second half was disappointing when, on the evidence of the first half, such a strategy would probably have brought its reward.

Starting the game at Brisbane Road (none of that "Matchroom Stadium" bunkum on this list, let me tell you) was a line-up subjected, allegedly, to injury-enforced change:-

Kuipers
Hinds Whittle Delaney Dawson
Green Ashbee Keates Elliott
Burgess Forrester

Subs: Melton (for Forrester, 60 mins), Webb (for Keates, 76 mins).

Any road, the game started with many of a Tiger following which must have been close to the 1 000 mark still outside and our heroes playing in white. Early exchanges were formless as they are wont to be on this list, although we had an early scare on 5 when Delaney, making his first serious blunder for three games and marring an otherwise fairly solid performance, played a hospital ball across the face of the goal to Dawson who was promptly robbed but the chance was spurned. We settled down and started to work our way into the match although, despite a few early corners, did not have our first real chance until the 20-minute mark, when the Orient left back misjudged a bouncing ball and Forrester, looking very anxious in the early stages to show Taylor that his rightful place is in the starting XI, raced away and fired in an effort which the Orient keeper could only parry, the ball then being worked back to Green who forced the keeper into another fine save. The resultant corner created havoc but was eventually cleared, but shortly after Forrester slipped his man and whipped in a cross which Elliott headed powerfully just over.

City were looking dangerous every time they attacked (at least when Yellow Flag wasn't busy pulling them up for offsides which only he seemed to have spotted), and it wasn't a great surprise when the home goal was breached on about 34 minutes. A corner was not properly cleared, and when the ball came out to Green he swung in a pin-point cross from the right onto the head of the onrushing Big Ben, whose low header was powerful and accurate. Total Tiger Mayhem reigned among the massed ranks of the away support, and taunts were levelled especially in the direction of ex-Tiger Gary Alexander, who had been booked on 13 minutes for a quite vicious tackle on Delaney. For those of you who were wondering, the ex-City hitman, until his late substitution, ran around furiously but to no discernible effect, much as he did at City once the goals dried up.

The game settled down a bit after the goal, although both sides had chances late on in the half. First Kuipers made a fine save from a 25-yard volley on 40 minutes and then a couple of minutes later a full-stretch Burgess agonisingly just failed to reach an Elliott cross and double his tally after a quickly-taken free kick had caught Orient napping.

But in the dying moments of the first half, the home side levelled. Whittle was adjudged to have lifted his boot too close to Alexander's mug on the edge of the City box - a harsh decision maybe, but, whilst I wouldn't go to the lengths Taylor did in criticising Whittle after the match, the Sarge is in fairness long enough in the tooth to have realised that referee Hill, who generally gave an over-fussy performance, was never going to need much encouragement to blow his whistle. Hunt of Orient stepped up and duly blasted a howitzer of a free kick into the top right hand corner of the net. A commendable strike, although it has to be said that the City wall, albeit from the other end of the pitch, looked a bit of a shambles in terms of its composition and positioning. Something to work on there, I fancy.

So 1-1, and game on. Half-time came and went without the intrusion of any Barndance Boys or boxers I haven't heard of, and we wondered whether Taylor's legendary caution would make him settle for a point.It soon became apparent that the answer to that question was in the affirmative, and it is equally apparent that whilst that might have been a good call with 15 or 20 to go, to make it at half-time was too early; Orient had barely threatened at all in open play and, whilst not always controlling the leather for lengthy spells, City always looked capable of making it count when they did press forward, and it was disappointing that no attempt was made at least to see whether attempting to continue the game in that pattern would bring its reward. As it was, the 4-4-2 of the first half seemed to have been supplanted by a sort of 4-4-1-1, with Burgess fighting a solitary battle up front and Forrester, who had been a real fly in the Orient ointment for much of the first half, lagging behind, although whether this was down to inertia or managerial instructions is hard to say; the comparatively early timing of his substitution might suggest the former, the identity of his replacement on the other hand killing off any chance of revitalising the City attacking effort.

Kuipers saved well from an O on 48 although it seemed that some handball had been afoot beforehand. City then went close on two occasions, firstly when Elliott ran onto a great Ashby ball and fired just over the corner of bar and post from a tight angle on 53, then four minutes later a stinging drive from Dawson - who again performed solidly - was tipped over by the home custodian. But the ball was soon back down the other end in what was proving to be the most eventful little spell of the game, and Alex showed precisely why we were right to ditch him when he wasted a free header from eight yards out following a free kick. This seemed to be too much for Taylor, who removed Forrester in favour off - yes, you've guessed it, ol' Big Hits himself. For those of you who like statistics, Melton was on the pitch for approximately half an hour and in that time he touched the ball on just six occasions - just one of which was to substantive effect when he made a tackle late on and defused a dangerous-looking situation - and spent the rest of his time doing what he does best, namely running into as much space as he could find when Orient had the ball, and sticking to the nearest O like shit to a wet blanket when we had it (d'you think maybe he's colour blind? Never thought of that). Someone please tell me what that guy is for.

Anyway, back to the game. It seemed from Taylor's post match comments on Saturday that he had had another move planned for the free which Dawson put away, and one can only assume that that was the move tried out when City won a free thirty yards out. Result: the usual cock-up, although to be fair it wasn't on Dawson's best side for a direct strike on goal.

The game quietened down for a spell after this as the referee's decisions became increasingly perverse, but Orient again went close when Kuipers saved a free header from another free kick, but Burgess was then desperately unlucky on 73 as he got onto the end of a raking Elliott cross from the left at the far post and hooked the ball goalwards. It seemed that the lead was ours again, and the Tiger Nation was on its feet in anticipation, but agonisingly Orient netman Harrison somehow - and probably involuntarily - blocked the ball with his body as he tore across the goal in attempt to cover.

After that, we did little. Keates was replaced by the blockhead Webb, and the only chance we had after that fell to - of all people - Melton, who headed tamely wide from a Burgess knock-down. It was all Orient in the final stages, and, if the late Eddie Waring had been commentating on this one the expression "Grandstand Finish" would surely have crossed his lips, but City's defence was resolute, with Delaney again overshadowing a comparatively out-of-sorts Whittle, and the point was safe, the only scare in the last ten being when Kuipers had to tip over a rasping 35-yarder.