Peterborough 1-1 Leyton Orient: O’s rescue draw in League One play-off
Moses Odubajo's goal earned Leyton Orient a well deserved 1-1 draw at Peterborough in the first leg of their League One play-off semi-final.
Britt Assombalonga's 33rd goal of the season should have been ruled out for offside but it gave Posh the lead going into half-time at London Road.
However, Odubajo levelled things up midway through the second half to leave the tie in the balance ahead of the second leg in east London on Tuesday night.
Orient were quicker out of the blocks early on but Posh eventually settled and went ahead on 16 minutes, Mark Little, firing the ball back across the face of goal for Assombalonga to head home from close range.
The visitors appealed for offside but no flag was forthcoming from the assistant referee, who was brilliantly positioned. Television replays, however, showed the striker was just offside.
The 21-year-old almost grabbed his second moments later but Scott Cuthbert's last ditch tackle saved Orient, who would have been unlucky to go 2-0 down.
Deservedly the visitors levelled in the 72nd minute as Odubajo tapped in an easy rebound after Bobby Olejnik's save.
Orient sensed they might be able to take more than a draw back to the Matchroom Stadium for the second leg and Olejnik produced a great stpp at his near post to deny Cox.
Elsewhere, in the other semi-final Joe Garner's sensational volley helped Preston North End to a 1-1 draw against Rotherham.
The hosts had initally fallen behind to Alex Revell's sweet strike on 21 minutes, with the striker smartly finishing off a free-flowing counter-attack.
However, the best was yet to come and Preston rallied with Joe Garner levelling things with surely one of the best goals ever seen in the play-offs.
The 26-year-old's blockbuster effort came from nothing as he took the ball down on his chest, flicked it over a defender and then unleashed a 25-yard volley which gave Millers keeper Adam Collin no chance.
And that rescued the Lilywhites, who will now go into the return leg on Thursday full of confidence as they bid to make it into the Championship.