Rovers' midweek win at Sixfields broke not only their ten game winless run but gave them their first ever three point haul from that ground. It means that there is less pressure on Paul Trollope's team as they face high flying Leyton Orient in a First Round FA Cup tie at Brisbane Road.

With 8 victories from their opening 15 games Orient are lying in third place in the table just one point behind leaders Carlisle.

The last times the teams met, back in September, it was for the 100th time and Orient ran out 3-2 winners at the Mem. After two Richard Walker penalties either side of half-time had appeared to give the Gas an insurmountable lead, goals by Gray (59 mins), Mkandawire (77 mins) and Demetriou (81 mins) preserved the O's 100% away record.

Coach Martin Ling has had to almost completely revamp his team this summer - with 12 players leaving and 10 arriving. Several players were released after last season's successful escape from relegation trouble, while several more declined the offer of new contracts and long-serving club captain and former Gas player Matt Lockwood was sold to Nottingham Forest.

As well as strikers Wayne Gray and Adam Boyd, other new arrivals include ex-Sunderland midfielder Sean Thornton and former Brentford keeper Stuart Nelson. But former Wimbledon trainee Gray, who had a loan spell at Orient in 2001/02, is pleased to have returned to his London roots - after three successful seasons with Southend and Yeovil.

"London's where I'm from, I love playing here and I'm happy to be here," he said. "In the last three years, I've had two promotions and a play-off final, so I've been quite successful and hopefully I can bring some of that spirit here."

Gray commented: "It's quite similar here to Southend and Yeovil. If everyone backs each other up and works together, it's the togetherness that makes it all happen. I'm one of the new guys, but if you can gel together like we have, you never know what can happen. Everybody wants to start with a flier - and we've got off to a flier, but we just want it to continue and see how far we can take it."

Before the start of the season many outsiders were tipping the Londoners for the drop but, despite their storming start, Coach Martin Ling insists a mid-table finish would still be classed as a success come May.

"We are overachieving," he said. "People need to still set realistic targets for us. At the start of the season we said finishing in the middle eight this year would be a success.

"That still stands as far as my chairman is concerned and that is pleasing to know because some chairman could get carried away by our start."Having said that though, the longer our form continues and the longer we stay around that top eight, the more you start to believe.

"We need some luck obviously because we have got a small squad, but if we get that then yes I suppose the dream would be the play-offs."

Before looking at the history of Rovers and Leyton Orient games let us examine the roots of Leyton Orient; they can be traced back to 1881 as the football team of the Glyn Cricket Club for the purpose of keeping fit in the winter months. In 1888, on the suggestion of a player who worked for the Orient Shipping Line, the club took the name of Orient, which fits in nicely with their location in East London.

They changed their name in 1898 to Clapton Orient in an attempt to gain support from the affluent residents of Clapton, London, whilst 1937 saw them move to their current home in Leyton. The end of World War 2 found Orient, in common with Rovers, in financial trouble. A fighting fund was set up to alleviate these problems, and yet another name changed followed, this time to Leyton Orient.

In 1962, they reached the pinnacle of English football, gaining promotion to Division One and 2 years later, their record attendance of 34,345 for an FA Cup tie against West Ham United.

In recent times, they have again faced financial problems. As the end of the 1994-95 season approached, with relegation looming came the news that the Club faced severe financial problems, with the PFA covering players' wages for a while. Orient were asked by the Football League to confirm that they could fulfil their fixtures to the end of the season and for a while it looked as if they might not finish the season, let alone start the next one.

After small businessman Phil Wallace admitted he did not have sufficient funds to buy the club, sports promoter Barry Hearn stepped in to take control of the club he supported as a boy. The club has been stabilised financially and in May 1999, played at Wembley in the 3rd Division Play-Off Final. Although they lost to Scunthorpe United, over 25,000 O's fans made the memorable trip.

Two years later there was further disappointment with a 4-2 defeat against Blackpool at the Millennium Stadium in another Play-Off Final. Despite going ahead after just 27 seconds thanks to Chris Tate, the Seasiders were too strong in the end.

Three years of struggle followed before a mid-table finish in 2004/05 season and an automatic promotion as 3rd placed club the following year.

Orient's first season back in Division One was always going to be a struggle but they avoided the drop with a 20th place finish.

Rovers have had some exciting clashes with the East London team in recent seasons none more so than a 2001 Boxing Day eight goal thriller which saw the Gas run out 5-3 winners. It is interesting that generally games between the two teams are fairly low scoring affairs, with a few notable exceptions.

Orient have rarely scored many against the Gas and yet Rovers have hit a 4 and a 5 (besides that Boxing Day game) and amazingly enough they have both been in London. The first of those victories was a 5-1 win with goals from Holloway (2), David Williams, Randall and Withey on 23rd October 1982. Two years later on 30th November, Holloway, O'Connor (2) and Randall were scorers in a 4-1 win.

In 1998-99 the sides were paired together in both the FA Cup and League Cup. After a 1-1 draw at Brisbane Road in the Worthington Cup First Round First Leg, Mark Warren hit a dramatic 119th minute winner in Bristol after the tie looked set to go to penalties. But Rovers got their revenge in the FA Cup Fourth Round as three goals in the last 15 minutes saw off the O's challenge.

In recent years the likes of Lee Thorpe Justin Channing, Jamie Clapham and Jason Harris have played for both teams and of course Matty Lockwood has played for both teams. Wayne Carlisle is another who took the move up the M4.

In an early season game in 2004-05 Rovers travelled to Brisbane Road unbeaten with what appeared to be a rock-solid defence. However it crumbled and let in as many goals in one game as it had in the previous seven. It was a game in which Rovers played well in patches and actually led 2-1, but then conceded three goals in just seven minutes in the second half. It was Carlisle who inflicted much of the pain.

A Boxing Day home game with Leyton Orient gave Rovers the perfect opportunity for revenge for that first defeat of the season at Brisbane Road. However a Robbie Ryan handball on the line meant Rovers were down to 10 men and a goal down as Lockwood converted his penalty against his former team. Jamie Forrester equalised from the spot in the second half but Rovers found the one-man deficit too great to overcome a determined Orient team. It was Rovers' third draw in a row and a fourth game undefeated.

The last two seasons of League opposition saw the Gas win 3-2 in East London early in the season and then take part in a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Mem on 31st January 2006. Overall Rovers hold the upper hand with 41 victories to Orient's 32 in the 100 games.

Hasney Aljofree grabbed a dramatic injury-time equaliser for Swindon.
The O's were a threat on the counter attack and looked to have sealed a late win when Adam Boyd capitalised on a scramble to fire Orient in front.

But Swindon, who had offered little threat during the clash, dramatically saved the day with a last-gasp attack. Aljofree pounced on a Lee Peacock knock-down before sweeping the equaliser beyond Stuart Nelson as Orient slipped down to third place.

Rovers found the impetus of cup runs in both the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and the FA Cup gave them a springboard for a promotion push last season. Having dropped out of the JPT at the first hurdle this season it is to be hoped that Rovers can stay in the FA Cup a little longer.

Written by Gerry Prewett