Hendon were unable to break down a determined Carshalton Athletic team reduced to 10 men for all of the second half and had to settle for a point from a turgid goalless draw at Colston Avenue on Saturday. Of the two teams, Hendon probably would have been happier with a point before the game, but Carshalton undoubtedly were more satisfied after the final whistle.

The Greens were unchanged from Tuesday night's narrow defeat at Billericay, but they did have a full substitutes' bench, Lubomir Guentchev and Bradley Thomas joining Danny Dyer, Scott Cousins and James Reading. The Robins, meanwhile, paired Richard Jolly with former Ashford Town (Middlesex) star Byron Harrison in a potent-looking front two.

Anyone walking into Colston Avenue would have been very confused by the teams in action. Carshalton have forsaken their famous all maroon or maroon and white for all red - apparently the nickname Robins being the reason - while Hendon wore an unusual pale blue and white kit.

Almost nothing happened in the first 20 minutes, with both teams locked into a midfield battle. Then, in the 21st minute, Hendon conceded a free-kick inside their own half and were lucky not concede from it.

The ball was played into the penalty area and a header back across goal picked out the unmarked Adrian Toppin. He had an almost open goal to aim at, but put his header wide of the target. Two minutes later, James Burgess made a goalline clearance to deny Ben Clarke.

After two games without a goal, Hendon players had been urged to try their luck from distance rather than walking the ball into the net and, as a result, both Peter Dean and Casey Maclaren fired off-target shots.

In the 28th minute, Hendon put together a superb passing move, involving most of the outfield players. The ball ended up with Lee O'Leary, who tried his luck with a dipping 25-yard shot. Carshalton goalkeeper Nick Hamann was slightly off his line, but he breathed a sigh of relief as the attempt was off-target.

Carshalton left it another five minutes before they had their best moment. A fine knockdown from Jolly went straight to Harrison, who let fly from long-distance. Berkley Laurencin was little more than a spectator as the ball flew past him, and he was very grateful to watch it cannon off the crossbar and bounce away to safety.

In the last minute of the first half Carshalton were reduced to ten men. A long ball from Diedhiou picked out Casey Maclaren, who was tussling for possession with Karl Murray. Maclaren got to the ball first and tried to flick the ball over the defender to give him a clear run at goal.

Murray stuck out an arm and deflected the ball away. The assistant referee immediately flagged for the hand-ball and Maclaren immediately pointed out to the referee that Murray had been the last defender. Desperate to defend their team-mate Carshalton players surrounded the referee before he checked with his assistant.

The assistant referee suggested that it was a red card offence and Murray was banished. From where the ball was - a couple of yards outside the penalty area - maybe level with a post, it would have been a clear goalscoring opportunity for Maclaren if the ball had been at his feet. The forward would have most likely needed to take a touch to bring the ball back under control before shooting, so it could certainly be argued that the sanction was harsh on the defender.

The free-kick took a couple of ricochets before going over the goal-line a yard wide of the far post. O'Leary had got the final touch, but the referee awarded a corner. Given the circumstances, it was probably fair that the corner came to nothing and the half-time whistle brought an end to proceedings.

Carshalton elected not to sacrifice a forward player to replace Murray. Instead, David Ray moved into the heart of the defence and he was excellent in keeping Anthony Thomas and Casey Maclaren at bay during the second half.

By playing much deeper than they would otherwise have done kicking down the hill - their preferred direction - Carshalton allowed Hendon plenty of possession until the Greens got to within 30 yards of goal. Then the defence and midfield showed its teeth and Hendon were continuously thwarted.

In fact the best chance of the half fell to Jolly in the 59th minute. For once, he got the better of James Parker and Craig Vargas and was clear on goal. Jolly's early shot was blocked by Laurencin, who had come off his line in a flash and had narrowed the angle to almost nothing.

The Robins made the first substitution of the game, replacing Clarke with the diminutive Rashid Kamara, but he couldn't turn the tide Carshalton's way. Hendon then withdrew both Dean and Kevin Maclaren, replacing them with Guentchev and Dyer.

The two substitutes added some width and Hendon immediately looked far more dangerous. Both Casey Maclaren and Anthony Thomas forced saves out Hamann, though the referee ruled, on both occasions, that they had fouled defenders to get into position. Dyer and Guentchev drilled powerful balls from wide, but Hamann was equal to them.

Then, in the third minute of stoppage time, Thomas almost completed his month-long loan spell in perfect fashion. The ball was played into him and he turned past Lewis Gonsalves before shooting. Hamann did enough to the push the ball aside and to preserve a deserved point for his team.

"It was as frustrating as it was on Tuesday," said Hendon manager Gary McCann, "and it felt like a defeat. We lacked a cutting edge, guile, imagination and width today.

"I thought the sending off was very harsh and it galvanised them. I told the players to try shooting a bit more, which we did in the first half, but in the second half we were again trying to score the perfect goal."