Gavin Massey’s early goal was not enough to see off dogged Cheltenham as Leyton Orient began the season with a 1-1 draw at the LCI Rail Stadium.

Massey's strike, four minutes into his O's debut, got them off to the perfect start and they restricted Cheltenham in the opening period.

Orient threatened a second after the break and fellow debutant Harry Cornick forced a full-stretch save from Russell Griffiths from a free kick.

But the Robins improved markedly after the hour mark, and earned a deserved equaliser when substitute Billy Waters bundled home Danny Whitehead's cross.

The O’s lined up without last season’s top scorer Jay Simpson, who according to the club was ruled out by illness, with six debutants named in the starting 11.

Dean Cox had to settle for a place on the bench with Bournemouth loanee Cornick starting on the left and Paul McCallum missing from the squad entirely.

There were chances at either end within the opening 90 seconds at Cheltenham’s newly-named home, but Orient would soon extinguish the Robins’ fairytale in their first game back in the Football League.

Sandro Semedo delivered an inviting cross across the six-yard box, which Massey needed no invitation to turn home at the far post.

The end-to-end encounter teased did not materialise, as is often the way after an early goal, and efforts from Bowery and Semedo never really threatened a second.

At the other end, Cheltenham were enjoying plenty of possession but were well marshalled by the new-look central pairing of Erichot and Parkes.

One rare mishap allowed Amari Morgan-Smith to dance into the box, but Sean Clohessy was alive to slide in and block his goal-bound effort.

Their first real chance came in injury time when Finnish defender Daniel O’Shaughnessy was again left on his own in the box from a corner, and he should have done better but ballooned the ball over the bar.

Orient nearly gifted Gary Johnson’s side a goal minutes after the break, when a throw from the right got an inadvertent touch towards goal from Tom Parkes.

He will be thankful to Cisak for sparing his blushes, with the Australian alert to hold his header.

Cheltenham had not lost a league game at the formerly-named Whaddon Road since September last year, but the O’s were the only side looking likely of ending winners.

Around the hour mark they could have doubled their lead through a flurry of chances; first Ollie Palmer was stopped in his tracks by an excellent Daniel Parslow recovery, then Cornick thumped in a 25-yard free kick which was palmed away by Griffiths. 

Cheltenham finally used the wake-up call to show the goalscoring intent they had lacked all afternoon.

They had looked a danger from throws on a number of occasions, without really threatening.

And one such well-executed move found its way to Holman, who dived in but could only divert the ball wide from no more than five yards out.

He again came close when a cross was headed back across goal by Morgan-Smith, and was still attempting to get the ball under control when Parkes nipped in to clear.

Gaps were appearing down the O’s right and a warning sign was not heeded from Wright scuffed his effort when left unmarked, before O’Shaughnessy pulled a point-blank save from Cisak from the same side following a free-kick.

The hosts could smell an equaliser was coming, and sure enough, it did. Morgan-Smith set Whitehead away down the left, and he swung a low cross into the danger area.

The ball bundled around in the box, needing someone to swing at it - and sure enough, substitute Waters did just that, firing low beyond a helpless Cisak to level the scores.

The two sides traded late blows, with Palmer and Harry Pell seeing efforts blocked, but a final half hour of end-to-end football ended with a deserved draw in Gloucestershire.

Orient: Cisak; Clohessy, Erichot, Parkes (Hunt 77), Semedo; Massey, Weir (Kelly 71), Atangana, Cornick; Bowery (Gnanduillet 81), Palmer.

Unused: Kennedy, Cox, Sargeant, Koroma.