Hendon came within an ace of pulling off their finest comeback of the season, but went down 3-2 to AFC Wimbledon at Kingsmeadow Stadium on New Year's Day. Sam Hatton's goalline headed clearance of Lubo Guentchev's shot preserved the victory for the South London Dons, who all but frittered away a three-goal lead in the final 13 minutes.

The Greens suffered a blow before kick-off when Wayne O'Sullivan limped away from the warm-up. Already reduced to a substitute's role because of an injury, it swelled up and he was replaced on the bench by Davis Haule, who himself has not played since 10 November. Scott Shulton was another substitute, the greater experience of James Burgess being preferred.

In the opening minute a cross Lubo Guentchev was met by Brian Haule and his effort was clawed away for a corner by Danny Knowles. From the corner, Haule's header beat Knowles but bounced inches wide of the far post. It was almost the perfect start for the Greens.

The striker was presented with a half-chance, but he could not trouble Knowles. If they didn't know it before kick-off, the 2770 fans in attendance were now well aware that this was a Hendon team to be feared.

It took a while for Wimbledon to create an opening, and then Jon Main could do no more than direct a header, one bounce, into the chest of Richard Wilmot. Things certainly weren't going Wimbledon's way in terms of injuries, because Main had James Parker land on his foot as the pair contested an aerial challenge. Parker certainly had no idea where he was landing, but Main limped away, as he did after Sam Page outjumped him and caught him in the back as he won the ball.

In addition to that, Parker and Karl Beckford collided and both needed treatment. The home player limped off and did not return, Parker also went off but returned moments later.

While down to ten men, AFC Wimbledon took the lead in somewhat fortunate circumstances. A bouncing ball in the penalty area deceived Marc Leach and as the defender tried to regain his balance, Main ran over his outstretched leg and went down.

It was a soft penalty, but probably the right decision and although Wilmot correctly guessed to dive to his left he could only push Main's spot kick off a post and into the net. At this point, Mark DeBolla replaced Beckford.

Hendon almost hit back immediately, but Haule was denied by another brilliant save from Knowles. The big striker could have enjoyed a first-half hat-trick, but there were no more goals in the first half.

Main did not reappear for the second half, replaced by Hatton, leaving Daniel Webb to fight an almost lone battle up front. His over-aggression bought him a booking when he tried to block a Wilmot clearance and he joined Jamie Busby in the referee's notebook – late in the game Shulton also saw yellow.

There was little to separate the two teams in the first 20 minutes of the second half, although the Wombles had slightly more possession. Then, in the space of three mad minutes, the complexion of the game changed completely.

In the 70th minute, a slip by a defender on the edge of the Hendon box gave Tony Finn some space. He wriggled his way into the penalty area and then rifled in a shot on the angle which beat Wilmot across the goalkeeper and the ball ended up just inside the far post.

Two minutes later, more defensive indecision created an opening for substitute DeBollA. He celebrated his birthday in style with a fine shot that left Wilmot with no chance.

At 3-0, AFC Wimbledon's supporters started to breathe easily. But they didn't know that this Hendon team never knows when it is beaten. In the 78th minute, the Greens forced a corner and when it came over Brian HaulE planted a header past Knowles to make it 3-1. Game on.

Slightly rattled, the Wombles decided to go the defensive and let Hendon go forward. Shulton and Danny Dyer came on, for Busby and Burgess, giving the North London Dons a more attacking look and suddenly things became interesting, especially as the pace of the game increased.

In the 82nd minute, Hendon attacked in numbers and the AFC defence was again found wanting. Knowles came for a ball he was never likely to make comfortably and when it bounced down to the totally unmarked Shulton, the 17-year-old belied his tender age with a composed finish into the bottom corner.

A measure of AFC Wimbledon's desperation could be seen by their third change. Off went DeBolla and on came Antony Howard, the last former Hendon player still at the club. A defender, the south Londoners now went to a five man defence and were looking very nervous.

As the game moved into stoppage time, Hendon forced another corner and Wilmot came up for it. It was bent in and although Wilmot didn't touch it, Knowles failed to claim it and the ball was hacked clear.

Wilmot returned towards his goal, but stopped midway inside his own half as another Hendon attack built up. This time when the ball was not cleared convincingly, it fell to Lubo Guentchev, and he almost made it a fairytale finish with a curling shot that looked destined for the top right corner until Hatton launched himself at the ball and headed it out for a corner.

The corner was cleared for a further corner, which in turn barely made it into the penalty area when the final whistle blew.

"I am so proud of my players for the way they fought back," said manager Gary McCann. "Most teams would have given up when they went 3-0 down at a place like this, but we didn’t and we nearly snatched a point. We have come here twice this season without most of our best attackers and not disgraced ourselves.”

(Report by David Ballheimer - not to be reproduced without permission from the author)