Hendon remain top of the Ryman League Premier Division despite dropping two points at the end of a magnificent, pulsating evening's entertainment at Short Lane on Tuesday night. Ashford Town (Middlesex)'s goal five minutes into second-half stoppage time did to Hendon what the Greens' late goals earlier in the season did for their opponents; deny them full points.

With Jamie Busby serving his one-game suspension, Hendon made two changes to the starting line-up which had beaten Carshalton. James Burgess dropped to the bench, while Dean Green and Rakatahr Hudson took on starting roles.

In the same fixture last season, the Greens made things difficult for themselves by having a player sent off after less than 40 seconds, so completing a minute at full strength was a relief. Getting to five minutes all-square was another improvement, but Hendon are much improved from last season.

And there was further proof of that in the ninth minute, when Belal Aiteouakrim went on a mazy run that took him past four defenders, none of whom dared to tackle him inside the penalty area, before firing in a perfect shot that Paul Burgess had no chance of reaching. It was Hendon's first ever League goal against the Tangerines.

If the Ashford defence was charitable, then Hendon returned the courtesy just two minutes later. Nobody followed Scott Harris when he made his run into the penalty area and when Adam Logie crossed Harris headed home.

This goal was the first conceded by Richard Wilmot and the Hendon defence in exactly 300 minutes or five hours of Ryman League football.

In the 22nd minute, the Greens regained the lead in thrilling style. Again it came from a run that began down the left side but, on this occasion, it was Wayne O'Sullivan in possession. He beat two defenders and shaped to shoot, although the angle was very tight.

However, he heard the loud, pleading call from Green, whose run from deep was not covered by a single defender. O'Sullivan's ball was excellent, Green's finish even better, emphatically driven into the roof of the net from 16 yards. After last season's red card at Short Lane, this goal was even sweeter for Green, his first of the season. "I hope this will get my season back on track now," he said later.

Whether it was the slippery pitch, an outstanding referee who was happy to allow both to teams to play, or simply a tacit agreement between both teams not to defend properly, the action switched from end to end, with chances being created and either taken or going begging.

Hendon held onto their second lead for all of 11 minutes. Then Marc Leach slipped as he tried to slow Warren Harris, the younger brother of Scott, as he ran into the penalty area. If left the young striker with time to pick his spot and he scored.

In the 36th minute, it was the home fans who were celebrating again as Scott Harris scored his second goal of the night. Suddenly Hendon's night had turned sour.

And things should have been significantly worse five minutes before half-time. Scott Harris burst into the penalty area, tried to take the ball around Wilmot and went to ground. From the other end it certainly looked as if the big goalkeeper had pushed the ball aside before the Tangerines' striker went to ground, but the referee pointed to the penalty spot. It should be said that there was little in the way of complaint from the Hendon keeper.

Former Hendon man Paul Johnson stepped up to take the penalty, but Wilmot stuck out a long leg and made a fine save having guessed correctly on the direction, but dived too far. If Hendon had trailed 4-2 at the break it might have been too high a mountain to scale for a comeback.

As it was, only five minutes of the second half had elapsed when the Greens were back on level terms. The Ashford defence didn't have the numbers to deal with a concerted Hendon raid and when the ball fell to Davis Haule, he despatched the ball with aplomb.

Gradually, as the second half progressed, Hendon began to get on top. Brian Haule and Daniel Dyer both forced saves out of Paul Burgess, while O'Sullivan's runs gave Greg Kirkpatrick fits. When Hendon regained the lead, there was more than a hint of offside about it.

Ashford failed to deal with a corner and when the ball was knocked back towards the penalty area, O'Sullivan was in an offside position. He raised his arms, rugby style, as he went back towards his goal, but his trot obstructed a retreating defender and allowed Aiteouakrim some space. The striker needed no second bidding to run at goal and Aiteouakrim's early shot was slowed by Burgess, but not enough to stop it bouncing into the net.

That seemed likely to be the match-winner. But the game had one final twist. Ashford went to an all-or-nothing formation and the Hendon midfield and defence started conceding free-kicks and clearing the ball with little thought.

In the fifth minute of stoppage time, another free-kick was pumped into the penalty area. The ball skidded off the turf, struck Wilmot on the chest and the rebound was bundled home by Johnson.

"This feels like a loss at the moment," said Hendon manager Gary McCann. "It may have been a fantastic game for a neutral or an ordinary football fan, but for a manager this was horrible. If we had been in this position a year ago, we would have lost 4 or 5-2. Now I am disappointed we didn't get 5 or 6 having gone 4-3 up."