Justin Edinburgh praised Leyton Orient’s character after James Alabi struck late on to secure the O’s a 1-1 draw away to FC Halifax Town at the weekend.

The O’s had been on top for long spells during the game, with Macauley Bonne and Josh Koroma both squandering presentable chances to put the East London side ahead.

Orient were made to pay for their profligacy when Halifax’s Dayle Southwell opened the scoring from the spot with 25 minutes remaining after Marvin Ekpiteta was adjudged to have brought down Matty Kosylo inside the area.

But just like they did against Salford City and Gateshead, Orient kept going and notched a deserved late equaliser through Alabi late on to preserve their unbeaten start to the season, leaving them in third place in the National League table.

Head coach Edinburgh was delighted with the team’s performance and had few complaints about referee Simon Mather’s decision to award Halifax a spot-kick.

He told Leyton Orient’s website: “If we had come away from the game with nothing then it would have been a travesty. We’ve been playing well but the way we controlled that game today was quite immense really. I’m proud of the performance.

“Obviously in that dressing room now it will feel like two points dropped but we showed great character and carried on till the end and got what we deserved.

“We always looked a constant threat and got into some really good positions. We were wasteful and that’s the only criticism I can have of the front two today. When we were dominating for long periods, we didn’t get the goals that we deserved really.”

When asked about the referee’s decision to award Halifax a penalty, Edinburgh added: “Yes, it was a penalty. We just needed to deal with the initial ball better. We got ourselves back into a position where Marvin was a little bit reckless.

“But it was one error in the game and we were punished for it. Other than that we were confident and dominant and moved the ball very well. We just didn’t get that first goal when we needed it.”