Hendon manager Gary McCann's assertion that his team was not "a million miles away" was certainly proved true as the Greens not only collected their first point of the season but also moved off the bottom of the table following their goalless draw at Heybridge Swifts on Saturday. The Greens were good value for the draw, but the match was ruined by a strong wind that blew straight down the pitch and made good passes into bad ones.

There were a number of changes to both Hendon's starting line-up and the formation. Central defender Jazz Rose, who had been with the club a few years ago was signed in midweek, and he went straight into the side to partner James Parker in a four-man defence; Ryan Wharton and Craig Vargas moved to right-back and left-back respectively, with Oliver Stroud and Wayne O'Sullivan both dropping to the bench; Ross Pickett was the lone striker, with Takumi Ake just behind him and the midfield quartet included Rakatahr Hudson - who spent half of last season at Heybridge - joining James Burgess, fit-again Lee O'Leary and Nas Richardson. There was no place in the 16 for either Dean Thomas or Dwane Williams, while Jermaine Hunter returned to take a place on the bench.

With the wind at their backs in the first half, Hendon's first order of business was not to concede an early goal, something was achieved without too many alarms, given the difficulty both teams had in attacking the River Blackwater end. What was very strange, however, was the problems both teams had going the other way.

Until the 65th minute, the only two shots of power that were on target came from at least 60 metres range. In the 11th minute, Rose cleared a ball from the edge of his penalty area and Danny Gay caught it above his head a yard inside his box 80 yards downfield. Had the goalkeeper left the ball, or misjudged the bounce, it would have ended up in the back of the net.

Swifts new signing Stuart Nethercott did not enjoy the conditions and a bad error almost gifted Hendon the lead after 21 minutes. He put Gay in deep trouble with a misplaced back-pass, but the goalkeeper did well to tackle Pickett as he made an angle to shoot. The ball fell to Ake, whose first-time sidefoot was probably goalbound, but Nethercott blocked it after the ball had travelled about two metres.

Neither team made any use of set-pieces, with the defences completely on top. When Heybridge broke downfield, Hendon's rearguard was very well marshalled and Richard Wilmot was barely had to touch the ball. Reaching half-time on level terms and without having conceded a goal were both firsts for the Greens this season.

Fears of a Heybridge onslaught in the second half never materialised, although they did have far more possession. Their first effort on target came after 51 minutes, when a long free-kick from Ian Cousins was gathered by Wilmot after it had eluded the 19 players between him and the kick-taker.

In the 56th minute, Wilmot had to be off his line quickly and make a brave save at the feet of Sean Marks. Unfortunately, the goalkeeper got a kick in the face for his troubles and needed lengthy treatment to stem the flow of blood from his broken nose.

He was able to continue and even repeated the brave act with another plunge at the feet of a striker - this time Jamie Richards - to pluck away the ball after 69 minutes.

The only save of note Wilmot had to make came in the 73rd minute, but in terms of difficulty, it would not have made his top-ten for this season, it being a shot from 15 yards and, although goalbound, not aimed particularly far from the keeper.

A couple of minutes later, Hendon withdrew Ake and brought on O'Sullivan. He made a couple of forays towards the danger zone and one run was halted by an illegal challenge that brought a yellow card for Russell Pond.

Unfortunately, when Hendon got into a good attacking position and forced a corner or free-kick, either Gay or a Heybridge defender was always first to the ball.

As the game moved into stoppage time - of which there were nine-plus minutes - Hendon made a couple of time-wasting substitutions, introducing Hunter and Danny Edwards for Richardson and Pickett, respectively. But, by this stage, Heybridge had run out of ideas and the game was tapering out.

"We were more than good value for the draw," said Mr McCann. "We got it right tactically today and it was a strong, resolute defensive display. I thought we might have had a couple of chances of even snatching it late on."