Hendon let a great chance to move into the relative safety of the Ryman League Premier Division mid-table slip by losing 2-1 at Boreham Wood on Tuesday night. That the match was played at all is down the incredible job performed by Wood's groundsman, Daniel Hunter, who produced a superb playing surface on a night when only the maddest or most devoted fans dared to venture out.

The game took place in heavy snow that fell through the game, occasionally turning to sleet or rain. Fortunately the temperature never dropped below freezing and the snow didn't settle.

The Greens made four personnel and other positional changes to the line-up from the one which lost to Wealdstone three days earlier: Wayne O#Sullivan, James Bent, Peter Dean and Lee O’Leary made way for Dave Diedhiou, Craig Vargas, Kevin Maclaren and Bradley Woods-Garness, while the substitutes' bench included the recently re-signed Belal Aite-Ouakrim.

Boreham Wood's penchant for attacking on the break left Hendon wary of committing too many men going forward, and the beautiful pitch surface allowed the Greens to pass the ball with ease. Wood, however, were equally happy to bring the ball forward with limited numbers so the there was a distinct lack of goalmouth action at either end.

It didn't mean the game was meandering aimlessly; both teams, especially in midfield, were totally committed and the wet surface meant that there were some meaty challenges. On two or three occasions players slid in for the ball and collided, but there was never any malice in the tackles.

Bradley Thomas, however, cynically obstructed Leon Hunter midway through the first half and deservedly picked up a caution. He was soon followed into the referee's notebook by Boreham Wood captain Mario Noto for a foul on Jamie Busby. The cautions would come back to haunt both players.

Apart from a couple of deep crosses from Wood wide men, neither of which found white-shirted team-mates, James Reading had a quiet opening 45 minutes. If anything, Tony Tucker was even less busy. He watched a couple of long-range shots fly away from the target.

Out of nothing, 11 minutes before half-time, Hendon took the lead. A Scott Cousins corner was headed away from the danger zone, but only to the opposite flank. The ball was knocked back to Diedhiou, who passed the ball to James Parker to send in a cross.

As the ball curled into the penalty area, Bradley Thomas got in front of Luke Garrard and seemed to be well-positioned for an attempt on goal. He was denied by the defender, who wrestled him to the ground. The ball bounced towards Woods-Garness, but he could not control it and the referee, having seen no advantage accrue, awarded Hendon a penalty.

Bradley Thomas remonstrated with the referee that he had been denied a clear goalscoring opportunity and his assailant should be dismissed. He may have had some justification in his claim, but there was certainly enough doubt in the referee's mind for him to satisfy himself with a caution for the Wood defender.

Jamie Busby struck the penalty powerfully and low, which was just as well because Tucker guessed correctly and got his hand to the ball. He could not, however, do more than slow it down slightly as the flew into the net.

Hendon then suffered a blow when Kevin Maclaren limped off, having strained his groin. Bent came on for him in a like-for-like change.

Almost without touching the ball at the start of the second half, Hendon saw their advantage disappear. Boreham Wood built an attack down the left side and Noto delivered a teasing cross into the penalty area. James Parker went for the ball with Greg Morgan, though neither could reach it.

As the ball went beyond the far post Vargas attempted to deal with the danger and slid across to cover. He made no contact with the onrushing Boreham Wood player, but caused him to leap in the air and crumple to the ground. The Hendon players were incensed when the referee pointed, once again, to the penalty spot but, from distance, the decision didn't seem to be wrong.

Noto took responsibility for the Wood penalty and he duly despatched the ball into the right corner. It was to be his last positive act in the match.

Less than fifteen minutes after bringing his team level, Noto lunged at Busby, who had nicked the ball past him. Busby was caught on the shin and the referee had no hesitation in producing another yellow card, followed, almost immediately, by a red one.

From the free-kick, however, Hendon levelled things up in the personnel count. The ball was knocked towards the edge of the penalty area, where Ryan Moran grabbed Bradley Thomas. The referee didn't spot any foul.

But that did not excuse the Hendon defender's retaliation. Moran went to ground and the referee made the correct decision to dismiss Bradley Thomas, deciding that it was unsporting behaviour as opposed to violent conduct, so he, too, saw a second yellow and a red. Thomas was probably fortunate not to receive a straight red card.

The extra space on the pitch helped both teams, neither of whom made tactical changes to replace their dismissed players. Boreham Wood stayed with two banks of players in deep midfield and defence, allowing Hendon to probe until the last 35 yards of the pitch, and tried to break on the counter.

Their tactics worked a treat and led to the match-winner midway through the second period. The call from the Hendon bench for someone to cover the runners as Wood broke out of midfield was not totally heeded and Hunter was able to get himself in a good position. His curled cross was turned into his own net by Parker for an own goal, though it appeared that Reading may well have been able to gather the ball before Morgan got on the end of the cross.

Aite-Ouakrim entered the fray after 73 minutes, at the expense of Woods-Garness, who had got no change out of Daniel Brathwaite. His good close control and quick feet asked questions of the Wood defence, but they found answers every time.

Hendon laid siege on the Boreham Wood goal in the last few minutes, but created only one good opening. A 25-yard back-pass from Lee Allinson reached Tucker, who was told by one team-mate to pick up the ball and by another that it might have been ruled a back-pass.

He elected for safety and tried to dribble the ball towards the left edge of the penalty area. Aite-Ouakrim spotted the situation and tackled the goalkeeper. The substitute had neither the angle nor the position to shoot, but he was able to roll a pass towards Anthony Thomas.

If the ball had been struck a little bit harder, Thomas might have been able to get more than half a step in front of the covering Moran and put his shot on target. As it was, the defender did enough to force a hurried strike from Thomas and the ball missed the goal by a few yards.

Diedhiou was replaced by Dean as the game moved into stoppage time, but he was unable find or create an opening for an equalising goal.

"I thought we played well tonight," said manager Gary McCann, "and some of our passing was as good as it has been for some time. I must give the Boreham Wood groundsman a lot of credit for that because he produced a magnificent playing surface that suited our passing game.

"I was very pleased with the overall performance and I couldn't really dig out any players, but we couldn't break down their well-organised defence so we didn't work their goalkeeper enough. And we fell for a sucker punch goal.

"We didn’t deserve to lose the game, though a draw was probably the right result."