Kelman: Good point for Leyton Orient at Grimsby Town

Kelman put the League Two leaders in front in the first half, only for the Mariners to hit back with a quick double after the restart.

George Moncur squared matters again and Lawrence Vigouroux saved a penalty as it ended in a 2-2 draw.

And that left O’s 13 points clear of second-placed Carlisle, who have a game in hand, heading into March.

“It was a difficult game, we started well, forced them into a couple of mistakes, had a couple of decent chances,” Kelman told the club website.

“Then obviously we got the goal, went into half-time and said we needed to go bigger with our clearances, start stretching the game more.

“The start of the second half was difficult and they took advantage of that, went 2-1 up.

“It was good character to come back to 2-2 and then Loz does what he does best, saves a penalty, gets us out of it. We could’ve gone on to win it but at the end of the day it’s a good point.

“Not many teams can come here and get all three.”

Kelman had not found the net since the 3-0 home win over Bradford on December 3 but took a pass from Ruel Sotiriou and finished well after 25 minutes at Blundell Park.

It was his fifth goal of the campaign and the 21-year-old is now hoping to add more before the end of the season.

“It’s been difficult for me, I’ve been unlucky the past few weeks, getting a couple of assists, but at the end of the day I want to score goals, that’s what I enjoy doing,” he added.

“It was nice to score and hopefully I can continue that and keep going and get double figures from now until the end of the season in a promotion-winning team hopefully.

“He pushed me in the back and I might’ve slipped a handball in there but I saw the keeper shift his weight to the right and I put it back to his left and the rest is history.”

Goals from John McAtee and George Lloyd turned the game on its head by the 52nd minute, but substitute Moncur was on the mark after more good work from Sotiriou, before Vigouroux kept out Anthony Driscoll-Glennon’s spot-kick with a diving save to his right.

And Kelman praised his teammates, while also giving credit to Paul Hurst’s side, adding: “Moncs is a great character, great guy to have in the changing room and Ruel as well.

“It’s good for Ruel, he’s coming good. He says he comes good towards the end of the season.

“It was a shame we didn’t take all three but we’ll take a point away.

“Every week teams come out. You watch them the week before and they’re completely different when we play against them.

“We have to give them some credit, they got the crowd behind them, come out strong, and I guess they deserved a point as did we, so it was a fair result in the end.”