Leyton Or 2 – 2 Stockport

Charlie Kelman netted a late penalty as Leyton Orient held Stockport to a 2-2 draw in a chaotic first leg of their League One play-off semi-final.

Kelman had given Orient a controversial lead from an offside position in the first half, before Stockport hit back in the second period with a quick turnaround through Ollie Norwood’s penalty and a Fraser Horsfall header.

League One top scorer Kelman then scored from the spot in the closing stages to send the tie into the second leg all square.

Challinor: ‘Worst decision I’ve seen in 15 years’

It came against the run of play and there was no surprise about the goal scorer. The shock was that it was allowed to stand for Kelman.

The striker may just have been about onside from the initial ball in – it was a close-run thing – but he was yards off by the time Omar Beckles had nodded it into his path, allowing him the freedom of the box to finish.

Clearly, the officials did not see it. Understandably, Dave Challinor and Stockport were not happy.

He told Sky Sports after the game: “Massive credit to the players for reacting the way they did to such an injustice. When you get to these games, you want them to show what they can do. That mentality they showed, I’m really proud of them.

“I probably don’t need to say anything because it’s glaringly obvious. There can be subjective decisions, but that’s plainly and clearly four yards offside.

“The argument can be they don’t know the player has flicked it on. But they’ve got five officials here and they can’t come to the right decision.

“I’ve been managing for 15 years and this is arguably the biggest game of my career. That’s the worst decision I’ve seen in 15 years.

“I get it’s a tough job but they are supposed to be the best we’ve got. If we can’t rely on them to make these decisions then I don’t know what we do.

“There will always be opinions but we’ve got to make sure we get the glaringly obvious ones right, especially at this level.

“This is a multi-million pound industry. It’s enormous. The difference between us or Orient being in League One or the Championship next season. We need to have some really obvious conversations on how we move forward.”

Stockport keep cool to turn tie around

Just before the hour, Stockport found the equaliser. Under pressure from Horsfall in the box, Rarmani Edmonds-Green handled and the referee pointed to the spot.

Norwood stepped up and put a superb penalty beyond Josh Keeley. The goalkeeper went the right way but the spot-kick was simply too powerful and precise.

Five minutes later, Stockport were in front, Norwood this time whipping a free-kick into the box that was met powerfully by Horsfall, who escaped his marker to head home.

Late penalty drama follows as Orient level it up

It may be hard for Orient to consider themselves hard done by considering the nature of their opener, but they ought to have been afforded the chance to level the game on 73 minutes as Kelman was tripped in the box by Norwood. The referee, however, was not interested.

Then Stockport will feel they should have been awarded another of their own after Horsfall appeared to be dragged to the floor by Beckles in the box. It was another not given.

But then, in the closing stages, the referee again pointed to the spot after a handball in the box from Horsfall.

Kelman, calmness personified, stepped up to slot home. A breathless 90 minutes later and we were back where we started – the two sides level ahead of the second leg.

“I thought it was a fair result,” Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens told Sky Sports after the game. “The message heading into the second leg is we’ve got nothing to lose and we’ll go for it.

“From where we’ve come from, it’s been an incredible journey. We have to go through days like this and in the long-term, we’ll be stronger for it.”