Leyton Orient maintained their seven-point lead at the top of the table after a stalemate with nearest rivals Stevenage at Brisbane Road.

Luke Norris saw his deflected shot drop just over the crossbar on four minutes, while Charlie Kelman had an effort saved by the legs of Taye Ashby-Hammond at the other end before the quarter-hour mark.

Paul Smyth then cut inside and fired just past the post on 18 minutes, with Idris El Mizouni picking up the first yellow card of the match soon after.

Luther James-Wildin escaped a booking for a foul on Smyth, but had his name taken for a bad challenge on Darren Pratley just before the interval as the scoreline remained blank.

Carl Piergianni headed wide from a free-kick within two minutes of the restart, with Danny Rose booked after catching Pratley in the face as they contested a header.

And Lawrence Vigouroux was called into action to save well from Jordan Roberts on 56 minutes, after the Stevenage man latched onto a quickly taken free-kick on the left side of the box.

O's captain Pratley fired high over the crossbar from Theo Archibald's right-wing cross just before the hour mark, with Richie Wellens replacing George Moncur and Kelman with Ruel Sotiriou and Aaron Drinan in a double substitution moments later.

And Sotiriou won a corner midway through the second half, with Pratley heading straight at Ashby-Hammond when Omar Beckles nodded the deep delivery back into the six-yard box.

Archibald flashed a left-footed drive past the far post when a long throw-in from Tom James was only half-cleared, with Dan Happe's downward header from a corner easily saved on 72 minutes as the hosts threatened again.

And Rose did well to head the ball back to his own keeper as Beckles looked to connect with a nod-down from James, as O's pressed following another set-piece.

Visiting boss Steve Evans made a triple substitution with 10 minutes remaining, with Jake Taylor immediately seeing a shot blocked by teammate Roberts as he looked to pounce on a long throw-in by Saxon Earley.

Smyth and Jordan Brown made way for Craig Clay and Rob Hunt in the closing stages, with James doing superbly well to get to the byline on the left during four minutes of stoppage time, only for his cutback to avoid several teammates in the box. 

Leyton Orient: Vigouroux, James, Happe, Smyth (Clay 87), Archibald, Brown (Hunt 87), Moncur (Sotiriou 63), El Mizouni, Pratley, Beckles, Kelman (Drinan 63). Unused subs: Sargeant, Ogie, Duke-McKenna.

Attendance: 8,644.