Could have won, might have lost so we'll settle for the draw, If any Albion fans were thinking that as they left the Matchroom Stadium, they were not alone.

Michel Kuipers saw things exactly the same way.

The big Dutchman stood up strong to block Wayne Gray's last-gasp shot and ensure there were no tasty rebounds from which the O's could have snatched a dramatic winner.

It was a crucial save, just a minute or so after Dean Hammond headed inches wide as the Seagulls chased a winner at the other end.

Hence Kuipers' acceptance of a point and satisfaction at his own very late contribution.

He admitted: "It's one of those. At the end we were unlucky not to win the game but also lucky not to lose it so a draw is probably a fair result."

It was an honourable draw, too, in the battle between former Seagulls team mates as Gray scored one, then shot too close to the keeper, who kept the ball out and, crucially, within his grasp.

Gray joked afterwards that it was a lucky save.

Asked if he agreed, Kuipers said: "No, but Wayne knows me. In the first half he had a great finish.

"In the second half I made a great save. Hopefully we are both pleased.

"The cross came from the left and as I looked up he (Gray) came out of nowhere.

"He hit it low to my bottom right and I got a good strong right hand to it.

"The main thing was keep it out but also don't give away a rebound which I managed to do.

"I was pretty pleased with that to be fair.

"You see often those saves go back into play, into the danger zone. Luckily I controlled the ball and it stayed quite close so I could dive on it again."

The point earned meant a lot to Albion, judging from the way they and their supporters celebrated at the away stand afterwards.

Dean Wilkins was out there too, showing his delight at the spirit his team had shown.

After all, when the O's went back ahead up just two minutes after Nicky Forster's ferocious first leveller, that was the moment when the visitors might have folded.

You could easily imagine some home fans thinking we've done them now' when Jason Demetriou made it 2-1 with a finish very similar to that curled into the same top corner by Hammond last season.

Kuipers said: "That's the team spirit we've got.

"We were 1-0 down, 2-1 down and pulled it back and could have gone 3-2 up.

"You have got to say it is a very good point.

"We've lost one game in the last 12, which was very unfortunate in the way we lost it.

"We're doing really well. The team spirit here is very, very strong.

"It has been coming for a while.

"We are definitely going to try and push for promotion and we'll see how we get on in the cup.

"We've got a nice semi-final coming up at Swansea (in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy).

"Hopefully we can fight on both fronts.

"We have to make sure we keep training hard and keep sticking together in the way we have over the last year-and-a-half or two years.

"This doesn't come over days or weeks. This takes months.

"In this case it has taken a year-and-a-half to get to the stage at which we are performing now."

How good was that Michel Kuipers save?