Leyton Orient slipped to second in League One after being held to a 2-2 draw at struggling Bristol City despite twice leading at Ashton Gate.

The O’s were never at their assertive best in an absorbing contest but will be bitterly disappointed not to have taken all three points back to East London after goals from David Mooney and Dean Cox twice put them in command.

Mooney’s exquisite finish – his 15th goal of the season - put the O’s ahead midway through the first half but City, who played with spirit and fluency throughout, drew level early in the second period as Sam Baldock slammed home from a corner.

Orient restored their advantage with 20 minutes to play as Dean Cox latched on to a rebound after Moses Odubajo’s initial shot but again City responded with Baldock drilling the ball across goal for Scott Cuthbert to bundle into his own net.

Both sides pushed forward in search of a winner in the latter stages but despite the two teams’ relative league positions – 27 points separated them at kick-off - neither could argue a draw wasn’t a fair result.

Russell Slade made just one change to the side that beat Swindon Town as Lloyd James replaced Marvin Bartley in central midfield.

O’s goalkeeper Jamie Jones also started despite the ugly scenes on Saturday which saw a Swindon fan enter the pitch and try to punch the O’s stopper.

Bristol City started in a 3-5-2 formation but with their wing-backs playing deep, the home side seemed content to absorb Orient’s attacks and look to play on the break.

Indeed the visitors were well on top early on and almost took the lead as a long throw from Nathan Clarke into the penalty area found its way to Moses Odubajo at the back post but the winger’s shot was blocked.

The Robins however did begin to settle and mounted some pressure of their own. First Simon Gillett shot narrowly wide from long range before Jay Emmanuel-Thomas flashed the ball dangerously across Orient’s six-yard box.

In their first decent spell of possession for almost quarter of an hour, Orient put together a superb move as Mooney exchanged passes with Romain Vincelot before picking out Kevin Lisbie with a dinked cross and the striker’s header had to be palmed over the bar by Elliott Parish.

It was a neat piece of play from the O’s but when the visitors took the lead just two minutes later it was from a far more direct route as a long ball over the top caught the hosts’ defence napping.

Lisbie bore down on goal and while he was tackled just inside the area, the ball spilled out to Mooney who wrapped his right foot around the ball and bent it superbly into the left-hand corner of the goal.

Bristol City were by no means being outclassed and enjoyed some flowing spells of possession in their opponents half but apart from a handful of speculative efforts and glancing headers, there was very little to trouble the Orient goal before the interval.

Bristol City made a positive start to the second half and Emmanuel-Thomas made sure Jones’ hands were warm as he found the O’s keeper with a low shot from the edge of the box.

With their second corner of the game, Orient had the ball in the net for a second time in the 53rd minute as Mooney headed in headed in James’ cross but the provider was offside.

The second half adopted a similar pattern to the first with the Robins enjoying the lion’s share of possession but with a slow tempo to the game and a lack of clear-cut chances, the home side’s best chance of an equaliser was from a set-piece.

And just before the hour-mark so it proved as Scott Wagstaff’s corner was flicked on by Aden Flint for Baldock to convert from close range.

Injected with belief, Bristol City continued to push forward and Pack went close to putting the Robins in front as his dipping half volley from the edge of the box drifted just wide.

When the next goal came however, it went to Orient. In the 70th minute, Lloyd James’ long pass found Odubajo free on the right.

The winger unleashed a low, driven shot which Parish was unable to hold but the Robins keeper was slow to gather the loose ball and Cox pounced to convert from close range.

The O’s advantage lasted less than two minutes however. City’s Baldock wriggled his way into the area and his fired shot across goal was bundled in by Orient’s Cuthbert for an own-goal.

With just over quarter of an hour to play the game opened up as both teams went in search of a winner.

Cuthbert went some way to making amends for his earlier error when he did brilliantly to get across and prevent Gillett finishing Wagstaff’s pull-back. Emmanuel-Thomas drilled a long-range free-kick wide with three minutes left and deep into injury-time Cox’s free-kick from the edge of the area hit the wall as neither side were able to create the match-winning chance and a compelling contest ended honours even.

Orient will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they host Sheffield United on Saturday.

Bristol City: Parish; Moloney, Flint, Osborne, Williams, Cunningham; Wagstaff, Gillett, Pack; Emmanuel-Thomas, Baldock

Subs: Fielding, Bryan, Shorey, Elliott, McLaughlin, Taylor, Harewood

Leyton Orient: Jones, Omosuzi, Baudry, Clarke, Cuthbert, Cox, James, Vincelot, Odubajo, Lisbie, Mooney

Subs: Simpson, Wright, Larkins, Bartley, Stockley, Batt, Sawyer

Referee: Andy Davies

Attendance: 10,659 (423 Leyton Orient)