Hendon paid a heavy penalty for losing their discipline as Ryman League Premier Division champions Dartford scored twice in the final 20 minutes to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory. The Greens' gutsy performance, in a feisty match that, on paper at least appeared to be pretty meaningless, certainly merited a point, even if they were under great pressure in the second half.

James Burgess, Lubo Guentchev and Peter Dean were all given a rest on the bench as Hendon's desperately tough end-of-season scheduled continued - this was the Greens' sixth match in just 12 days - and even with only one game to go after this one, some players simply needed a break. It should be pointed out that Dartford had made similar changes having undergone a very similar schedule.

Replacing the trio in the starting line-up were Dave Diedhiou, James Parker and Casey Maclaren, while top-scorer James Bent - back after a couple of weeks' out injured - and Florin Pelecaci completed the substitutes line-up.

The Darts only target left this season was to score the three goals that would bring up their century in the League, and Hendon were determined that the visitors wouldn't pass that landmark against them.

Parker and Bradley Thomas enjoyed the better of their duels with Carl Rook and Haworth, while Diedhiou and Craig Vargas limited the number of balls delivered into the penalty area from out wide, while Lee O'Leary and Kevin Maclaren built a solid barrier in front of the back four. That said, James Reading did make one excellent save early in the match.

Danny Dyer enjoyed his battle with Adam Gross and gave the Dartford full-back a difficult evening. In the middle, however, there was little joy for the Hendon strike-force.

That said, the Greens were not without scoring opportunities. A powerful drive from O'Leary flew narrowly wide of Andrew Young's goal and Jamie Busby also went close.

The best chance, though, fell to Thomas, from a Scott Cousins corner. It was perfectly delivered and the centre-half had a free-header from 12 yards. He failed to hit the target and his disappointment was evident for all to see.

Hendon's enterprise got its reward five minutes before half-time. From another corner, the ball ended up just outside the penalty area, where O'Leary met it with a rasping drive.

Young made an excellent save diving at full stretch, but couldn't hold the ball. It rolled invitingly for Casey Maclaren, who got to it fractionally before the recovering goalkeeper. There was very little, if any, contact between Young and Maclaren, and the Hendon player, doing what all strikers do in the modern game, went down.

The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot, and the goalkeeper was furious with Maclaren for going down, and his mood was not improved by the yellow card shown to him.

Busby took responsibility for the spot-kick and although Young guessed correctly, the penalty was struck hard and true, beyond the goalkeeper's dive. Angry to have conceded a penalty and disappointed not to have saved the kick, Young reacted by launching the ball out of the ground and was fortunate not to receive a second yellow card.

The second half was a different story as Dartford took control. A brilliant goalline clearance by Busby kept Hendon in front, but it was very tenuous.

On a rare occasion when Hendon were able to cross the half-way line, an excellent run from Dyer set up an opening, beyond the far post, for the late-arriving Busby. Having to stretch for the ball, and thus not enjoy the luxury of being able to bring it under instant control, was reason enough for Busby to take the power option ahead that of a touch and maybe placement. His effort flew high and wide of the near post.

A second Hendon goal might well have decided the match in the Greens favour. Instead, in the 70th minute, Dartford drew level. A free-kick from the wing was crossed into the penalty area. James Reading came to claim the ball and although he appeared to be nudged slightly as he rose for it, he was already off balance.

The ball came off the goalkeeper's hand and fell invitingly for Danny Harris, who needed no second bidding to notch the equaliser. Before play could resume, Haworth, skipper Adam Flanagan and Ryan Johnson were all withdrawn by Dartford, Jamie Coyle, James White and Allan Tait replacing them.

Hendon, looking for a winning goal in the final few minutes, made their first two substitutions, introducing James Burgess and Peter Dean at the expense of Busby and Dyer, respectively, but most of the football was still being played in their half of the pitch.

As the game moved into stoppage time, Cousins went off to be replaced by Bent. But before he could do anything, Casey Maclaren snapped at Danny Dafter, who had already been cautioned. Losing his temper proved costly for the Hendon man whose nod at the Dartford player resulted in a red card for him.

From the free-kick, Dartford took advantage of Hendon's loss of concentration. Harris got in front of Parker and guided the ball past Reading for his second goal of the night.

"Dartford made us pay for our loss of discipline," said a disappointed Hendon manager Gary McCann. "And three of our players will start next season sitting in the stands serving suspensions because of it.

"It was very disappointing to get nothing from the game because I thought our play deserved better. We were under a lot of pressure in the second half, but we coped well with it."