Hendon were distinctly unlucky to return from Hampton & Richmond Borough with so much as a point after going down to a 1-0 defeat on Saturday. As much as a point would have been the most they deserved from Leyton on Tuesday night, so a draw was the least they could have expected from this performance.

There were two changes to the starting line-up from Tuesday, Richard McDonagh making his first start for almost two months, and Eugene Ofori came in for Jason O'Connor and Danny Julienne, respectively, both of whom were relegated to the bench.

The dry spell and sudden rise in temperature had a bad effect on the Beveree pitch, making it hard for either side to play composed football and players were frequently caught out by the bounce of the ball.

Chances were at a premium at both ends. In the seventh minute, good work by Ofori set up a half-chance for Ross Pickett, who did very well to control the bouncing ball, turn a defender and fire a powerful shot at goal. There was only one place the ball could really have been directed and Kieron Drake covered with well and made an acrobatic save.

After 25 minutes, Elliott Godfrey and Graham Harper linked up well down the Hampton right wing and when the low cross was delivered from the bye-line, Dave King could not get a hand to it. It should have resulted an easy tap-in in for Luke Fontana, but the striker somehow managed not to make any contact and the ball sped away for a Hendon throw-in. Seven minutes later the striker rose well to meet a corner, but he put the effort just over the crossbar.

Just before half-time, the best move of the first half, involving James Burgess, McDonagh, Dave Hunt and John Frendo, resulted in the ball falling to Pickett, but this time there was little power in the shot and Drake saved easily.

In the 61st minute, Hendon thought they had broken the deadlock. James Parker did well down the right side and he found Burgess, who shaped to shoot. A defender hurried across to block this possibility, so Burgess laid the ball into the path of Frendo, who wasted no time in blasting the ball into the roof of the net.

Hendon celebrations were stilled by the waving flag of the referee's assistant who considered Frendo to have been offside. It was a very marginal decision and the players seemed genuinely surprised that the goal was chalked off.

It proved a turning point in the game because, just eight minutes later, Hampton scored what proved to be the match-winner. McDonagh lost control of the ball ten yards outside his penalty area and it was taken on by Craig Lewington. He got to the edge of the box, before shooting low, just beyond King's dive, into the bottom corner.

Danny Blanchett and Andy Sherry replaced Frendo and McDonagh, whose error was one of the very few he made all afternoon, as Hendon tried to get back on level terms, but the Hampton defence just about held out. René Street was inches away from one cross and a pair of defenders then combined to block Dean Coppard's path as the centre-half tried to dribble into the box. Coppard went down rather theatrically and the referee decided that there was no offence against him.

In stoppage time, Blanchett chased a through ball from man of the match Rob Courtnage, but could not reach it before it crossed the goalline.

"I am very disappointed that we got nothing from the game," admitted manager Gary McCann. "The boys did everything we asked of them and then some. It shows how far we have come when we more than match a team looking to go up."