Hendon played out a third consecutive 1–1 draw in a Ryman League Premier Division encounter against visitors Heybridge Swifts and, in the end, were probably fortunate even to earn a single point. For fans keen to see plenty of goalmouth action and chances, this was out of the top drawer, but for those preferring composed football with intelligent passing and running, it was hugely disappointing.

The return to Hendon of on-loan Scott Shulton from Wycombe Wanderers saw him take Charlie Mapes’ starting role and William Viner replaced Richard Wilmot in goal for his Ryman League debut. With the Maclaren brothers, James Bent, Jamie Busby, Mark Kirby and Chris Bangura all still injured and Rakatahr Hudson retired, it could be said that seven of the preferred first team from the start of the season was absent.

In the opening ten minutes, neither team looked like scoring but Heybridge almost profited from a James Parker slip after 11 minutes. The ball went through to James Robinson, whose attempted lob of Viner almost brought him a goal, but he struck the crossbar. When the rebound fell to Gary Hill, the striker rushed his shot and missed the target.

Two minutes later, Hill had another chance and this time he forced Viner into an excellent save. With only 10 goals scored in 17 matches, it was easy to see why Heybridge are at the foot of the table.

The final half-hour of the first half was dominated by Hendon. The Greens could have scored half a dozen times and probably should have had at least four goals. In the 16th minute, Harry Hunt worked himself an opening, but he struck the ball in the one place where Ollie Morris-Sanders was favourite to make a save and the 'keeper duly did so.

Nine minutes later, Hunt did beat Morris-Sanders, but the goalkeeper was rescued by his upright and Brian Haule could not control the rebound to get a shot on target. A minute later, Shulton snatched at a shot and dragged it wide.

In the 34th minute, Morris-Sanders again came to Heybridge’s rescue, again denying the increasingly frustrated Hunt with his best save in an increasingly large catalogue of stops. Four minutes later, the goalkeeper got lucky when an effort from Lee O’Leary took a deflection and he was able to block the ball with his legs.

The chances for Hendon kept coming and Parker lost his marker at a corner, but he had run five yards in front of the near post and his flick missed by a similar margin. Four minutes before the break, in another goalmouth scramble, Morris-Sanders kept out an effort from Haule.

Swifts suffered a blow in the 45th minute when a challenge by Haule earned him a caution and ended Russell Pond’s involvement, the midfielder being helped off with what appeared to another knee injury. This was his first game back after missing time with ligament damage and Reece Morgan replaced him. Just before the interval, Heybridge almost scored when Neil Cousins had a good chance, but he failed to take it.

The early part of the second half was similar to the first with neither team taking control. The closest either team came to scoring was a drive from Haule that narrowly missed the target, but Lubomir Guentchev was in a great position, unmarked, had he decided to pass.

Then, out of almost nothing in the 58th minute, Swifts took the lead. A foul by Turley near the touchline 35 yards from goal should not have been too much of a problem for Hendon but Robbie KING’s curled kick somehow bamboozled defenders and attackers alike and Viner’s expectation of the ball missing the target was horribly wrong. The ball struck the far post and bobbled into the net.

Hendon responded very well and Turley had two efforts, one a header just over the crossbar and the second requiring another good save from Morris-Sanders. And the Greens came even closer to the equaliser in the 68th minute when O’Leary beat the goalkeeper, but not Chris Bourne on the goalline and the defender blocked the ball out for a corner.

As disappointed Hendon were to concede the goal they did, it was probably even more galling for Heybridge in the way the Greens equalised from the resulting corner. Guentchev’s delivery found O’LEARY, whose header should and would not have been a problem for Morris-Sanders, had he ignored the shout of “Over” from a teammate. That judgement was as bad as Viner’s had been ten minutes earlier and the ball dropped just under the crossbar, carefully watched by the horrified goalkeeper.

Almost immediately, both teams made changes, Glen Garner replacing Haule for Hendon and Ben Codling taking over from Hill for Swifts.

Two minutes after equalising, Hendon should have been awarded a penalty. A cross from Turley would have reached James Burgess, a step in front of Adam Gillespie close to the penalty spot. The Hendon skipper could not do anything with the ball as a two-handed push from his Heybridge counterpart sent him to his knees.The referee waved play on and when Burgess chased and fouled Gillespie in a tussle for the ball, the official lectured both players.

Craig Vargas became the ninth Hendon player to have an attempt at goal – Marc Leach would end up the only one of 12 who appeared not to try his luck – but although Morris-Sanders spilled his goalbound shot, covering defenders ensured that O’Leary didn’t grab his second of the evening.

After efforts from both Garner and Guentchev had sailed well wide of the target, Hendon became more desperate for a winner and, as a result, left huge holes in their rearguard. Leach made one magnificent block and Viner two saves denying Cousins and Robinson.

When Sam Byfield came on for Guentchev with around ten minutes to go, he had time fire a shot well wide of the target, but it was from a rare moment of good second-half football from either team – though by this point Heybridge were the superior side.

And, with the game four minutes deep into stoppage time, they nearly earned the reward their enterprise merited. After Viner had dived full length to touch a Codling shot outside the far post, the substitute almost won the game with a header from the resulting corner that struck the underside of the crossbar, bounced around and was finally hacked clear.

“It was a disappointing result,” said manager Gary McCann, “and I would have taken the result over performance. To take one point from the six available in the last two games was very disappointing. Our first half performance was much better than all of Saturday.

“I always felt there was an equaliser in us, but in the last 15 minutes we probably deserved to lose the game. Possession of the ball is our game, and we didn’t do it well enough.”

(Report By David Ballheimer - Not to be reproduced without the author's permission)