Hendon made it five games unbeaten when they drew 1-1 with Staines Town at Wheatsheaf Park on Saturday. But the Greens were quite rightly very unhappy about the goal the Swans scored to draw level in the second half.

Eugene Ofori was injured in a Friday evening car crash and was only released from hospital early on Saturday afternoon - his injuries are believed to be no worse than whiplash - so Ross Pickett to his place up front. Dean Coppard came in for the suspended James Burgess in the other change to the starting line-up, while Tom Woodcraft was named on the subs bench for the first time.

Staines suffered a blow after just eight minutes, when their captain Peter Barnsby went down on the half-way line after he contested a ball. There was certainly nothing untoward in the challenge, but he was stretchered off in great discomfort and replaced by Paul Ellis. It transpired that he suffered a recurrence of a knee problem, recently operated upon.

The Greens took advantage of the enforced Staines reshuffle to manufacture a superb opening goal. James Parker was the instigator with a mazy 40-yard run that took him past three Staines players off the left wing into the middle of the pitch. He had two or three passing option and delivered a perfect one.

The ball bisected two defenders and invited Gary Meakin to take it on, which he did. Matt Lovett came off his line, but MEAKIN took the ball past him, regained his balance and slipped the ball into the unguarded net. It was the perfect excuse for Hendon fans to warm themselves jumping up in excitement after they had endured a brief hailstorm at kick-off time.

Staines used the wind at their backs in the first half to apply plenty of pressure on the Hendon penalty area. Their final ball, however, was never really good enough and Dave King didn't have to make a save of note, while Rene Street, Coppard and Steve McGrath were more than confident in dealing with aerial deliveries towards the edge of the box. Their shooting was equally poor because not a single effort was put on target in the opening 45 minutes.

Frendo and Pickett worked exceptionally hard up front and, in the 35th minute, they combined to set up Dave Hunt whose finish failed to match the approach play and Lovett made an easy save.

Hendon remained comfortable in the second half and had a a few chances to extend their lead. A cross from Danny Julienne was dropped by Lovett but before a Hendon player could react, Paul Ellis had hacked the ball clear. Frendo had a shot that Lovett slowed with a hand, but the main clearance was made by the covering McDonald who intervened just inside the six-yard box.

In the 71st minute, Staines were given a lifeline. Michael Currie seemed to have a clear run at goal, but was pulled down from behind by Steve McGrath. CURRIE took penalty himself and although King got his hand to the ball, he could not make a save.

Both teams had chances to win the game in the final few minutes. Former Hendon midfielder Andre Delisser had a couple of runs that were stopped by good tackles while Clement James fired two shots that flew across the face of King's goal. At the other end, Pickett scuffed a shot wide and a good cross from Meakin found the outstretched leg of a Hendon forward, but the ball was propelled directly at Lovett.

"There was a squad of 16 Hendon players who are disappointed with a 1-1 draw away to Staines," said manager Gary McCann. "That speaks volumes about how far we have come in a short time. The spirit and togetherness of the whole squad is excellent."