Hendon continued to lead the Ryman League Premier Division after they drew 0-0 with one of their close challengers, Ramsgate, at Claremont Road on Tuesday night. For those love commitment, passion, and end-to-end football, this was a thoroughly entertaining top of the table clash.

The Greens, unsurprisingly named an unchanged starting eleven, with new signing Daniel Dyer – formerly with Harrow Borough and Hayes – replacing Luke Blackmore on the bench.

Ramsgate, knowing a win would take them above Hendon on goal-difference, started at 100 mph and they gradually accelerated from there. Hendon, it must be said, more than matched the Rams, certainly in the tempo.

For all the end-to-end nature of the game, defences dominated throughout, with Marc Leach and James Parker snuffing out the Ramsgate attack in much the same way that Davis and Brian Haule barely got a look at the visitors goal.

The first shot at goal came from Ramsgate's Michael Phillips after 23 minutes. He was 20 yards out when he let fly and Richard Wilmot made a good low saw. The closest Hendon came to a goal was a near-post flick which Paul Wilkerson saved well.

Shaun Welford missed a good chance for Ramsgate moments before a mazy run from Wayne O'Sullivan ended with a shot that unfortunately bent away from goal.

Just before half-time, both teams had loud penalty shouts. When Davis Haule was sent crashing it certainly appeared that the ball was not touched by the defender, something that wasn't the case in the Hendon penalty area, though whether the ball or the man was touched first was hard to tell.

In the second half, the tempo, if anything, increased. In the 58th minute, Jamie Busby tried his luck from distance and Wilkerson was well beaten by the piledriver, but the ball sent supporters diving for cover as it flew over the crossbar and onto the terrace behind the goal.

Unfortunately, the final 20 minutes were too frantic, littered with fouls, lectures, cautions, and bubbling tension, almost as if the desire for the prize of victory was too big.

In the 84th minute, Hudell went in for a challenge and stayed down. It certainly appeared to be a nasty injury, though it was not clear if it was the result of accidental conduct or a deliberate foul. The referee did not stop play - admittedly it wasn't a head injury, but Hudell lay ominously prone - for a good few seconds.

Ramsgate, playing to the whistle as is their right, kept the ball and looked to create an opening where Hudell was absent. They couldn't do so because Busby lunged in to try and win back the ball. Unfortunately it was a foul that merited a yellow card, which Busby duly received as well as the red one.

Hendon could not bring on a substitute in time for the free-kick, so they had to defend it with just nine men as Hudell was helped away. The defence did its job and, before the restart, Dyer came on.

There were only a handful of minutes left for Ramsgate to use their one-man advantage and, as the game moved into stoppage time, Simon Pettit was withdrawn in favour of Dan Dolton.

The substitute should have been the Rams hero in the 93rd minute when the ball broke to him, eight yards from goal with the target invitingly open. A calm head and side-foot would have brought all three points. Dolton's snatched strike sent the ball high over the bar and the honours were shared.

(Report by David Ballheimer - not to be reproduced in any form without the author's agreement)