Leyton Orient are up and running in the National League as Craig Clay’s deflected effort late on secured the O’s a deserved point against Salford City.

Clay was left alone at the far post and his low effort was deflected over the line by Liam Hogan to cancel out debutant Rory Gaffney’s opener just after half-time.

But it could have been all three points for Orient, with both Alex Lawless and Charlie Lee hitting the post and Josh Koroma and Macauley Bonne both wasting glorious chances during the game.

Justin Edinburgh handed a full debut to new signing James Alabi up front, while Lawless started alongside Clay in midfield. In form Koroma was fit enough to start out wide having shrugged off the groin problem which saw him miss last weekend’s friendly against Southend United. Lee, James Dayton and James Brophy all started on the bench.

It was Salford who started the brighter and Dean Brill had to be aware to tip Ibou Toure’s strike from distance around the post for a corner. Fortunately for Orient though, the resultant set piece came to nothing.

The O’s had Sam Ling to thank moments later, as he pulled off a superb block to deny Salford debutant Adam Rooney from opening the scoring, after he met Rory Gaffney’s pull back.

Orient were firmly on the back foot by this stage as Salford turned the screw and Coulson then pulled off a great block to deny Gaffney.

After the East London side had survived those early scares, Orient started to come back into the game and they had their first shot on target when Koroma stung the palms of Salford goalkeeper Chris Neal.

Down the other end, Orient were left fuming when Widdowson appeared to be fouled, but Salford countered and Coulson was there once again to block Danny Lloyd’s effort.

Graham Alexander’s men continued to cause problems as the game entered the 20th minute and Brill made two good saves in a matter of seconds, firstly tipping over Carl Piergianni's powerful header, before doing well to hold Toure’s fierce drive.

But despite being on the back foot for most of the early stages, it was Orient who were inches away from taking the lead, when Lawless picked up the ball on the edge of the area and his strike, which picked up a slight deflection, agonisingly struck the post and bounced out with Neal stranded.

Good play from Lawless then saw him surge forward before picking out Bonne, who tested Neal with a curling effort from the edge of the area, only to be flagged offside, while down the other end, Brill did well to get down low to hold Tom Walker’s drive.

Last season’s top scorer Bonne started to see more of the ball as the first half went on and he was found in space on the edge of the area by Koroma but he couldn’t make the most of the opportunity, pulling his effort wide of the target.

After a slow start, Orient had started to force their way back into the game as the first half wore on and they forced another decent save from Neil when Alabi was found by Clay having pulled away from his marker, before his low effort was pushed out by the Salford goalkeeper.

But Orient’s hard work was to go down the drain within two minutes of the restart as Salford took the lead through Gaffney. Lloyd, who had caused Orient problems in the first half, made an excellent run in behind the O’s defence and was given time to pick up his head and find Gaffney, who tapped home from close range to score on his Salford debut.

However, Orient should have been back on terms almost straight away when McAnuff did well to nod the ball back to Koroma on the penalty spot, but the youngster, who had scored seven times in pre-season, lacked composure as he blazed over the bar.

Koroma, once again, wasted another promising opportunity for Orient seven minutes later, when captain McAnuff pulled off a great interception to win back possession before releasing the Orient youngster, who was caught in two minds and fired his effort over the bar.

Edinburgh decided to make his first change just before the hour mark, with Brophy coming on for Lawless, meaning that McAnuff moved into central midfield.

But Salford almost doubled their advantage just seconds after the re-start, when Brill showed superb reflexes to tip Gaffney’s effort over the bar. The Orient goalkeeper then had to get down low to deny Walker.

Another huge opportunity then came and went for Orient with 25 minutes to play, as Bonne, who scored 25 times for the O’s last season, met McAnuff’s driven cross seven yards out but wastefully scooped his effort over the bar.

Bonne was almost in with 15 minutes to play as he capitalised on a poor Salford clearance before rounding the goalkeeper, only for a defender to nick the ball away just as last season’s top scorer was about to pull the trigger.

Some good defending from George Elokobi prevented Salford substitute Richard Haughton’s effort from finding the bottom corner, before Edinburgh made a double substitution, with Lee and Dayton replacing Ling and Koroma. Clay moved to right back as a result of the change.

For the third time in the second half, another huge opportunity went to waste for Orient, as substitute Lee saw his deflected header agonisingly hit the post and Bonne somehow couldn’t scramble home the rebound.

But Orient’s pressure would finally pay off with five minutes remaining, as they deservedly got back on level terms when a corner found Clay unmarked at the far post, and his low effort was deflected past the Salford goalkeeper by Liam Hogan to cue wild celebrations from the O’s fans.

The O’s almost scored a late winner, as Bonne saw his lofted effort clawed away by Neil, before substitution Dayton turned his effort over the bar after good work from Brophy.

Orient just couldn’t find that winning touch and they had to settle for a point in the end at the Peninsula Stadium.

The O’s are back in action on Tuesday night when they face Ebbsfleet United at the Breyer Group Stadium.

Salford City: Neil (GK), Wiseman, Piergianni, Hogan ©, Toure, Lloyd (Haughton, 70), Whitehead, Maynard, Walker, Gaffney, Rooney.

Subs (Not used): Crocombe (GK), Pond, Shelton.

Leyton Orient: Brill (GK), Ling (Lee, 80), Elokobi, Coulson, Widdowson, McAnuff ©, Lawless (Brophy, 58), Clay, Koroma (Dayton, 80) Bonne, Alabi.

Subs (Not used): Sargeant (GK), Ekpiteta.

Referee- Daniel Middleton.