Hendon failed to take full advantage of yet another slip by Canvey Island as they were held to a goalless draw by Heybridge Swifts team that played for 70 minutes with left-back Danny Barber in goal after James Pullen had been sent off. All in all it was not a night that saw football in a positive light.

An unchanged Hendon line-up encountered a much-changed Heybridge squad containing a large number of players with Conference and Football League pedigree, rendering their current lower-midtable position somewhat false.

After eight minutes, Dwayne Plummer eschewed a cross to the open Ricci Crace for a narrow-angle effort that nestled in the side-netting. In the 15th minute, Crace fired a shot that flew just wide of Pullen's right post. Three minutes later Rory Hutton failed to hit the target for Heybridge. That apart, there had been little of note.

Then, in the 20th minute, Pullen went to deal with a through ball that didn't quite reach the penalty area. Instead of clearing the danger, he tried to dribble the ball back into the box to pick it up but he was put under pressure by Eugene Ofori.

The goalkeeper dived on the ball only for the assistant referee to flag for handball. Referee Mr CJ Overall awarded the free-kick, called the goalkeeper towards him and unhesitatingly produced the red card.

Without a spare goalkeeper on the bench, striker Carl Griffiths picked up the No.1 shirt, but it was, instead given to Danny Barber, the one Swifts defender standing below 6ft 2in. Swifts kept Kris Lee and Griffiths up front, although slightly more withdrawn, while the rest of the midfield camped themselves in front of the defence.

The whole nature of the game changed, and not for the better. Hendon preached patience and were content to build up attacks in the same way they had against 11 men. It seemed strange that they didn't, initially, attempt to pepper the Swifts goal with shots. Although denied space anywhere in the penalty area, with players such as Scott Cousins and Plummer, long-range efforts were still possible.

Hendon mustered a single shot on target in the final 25 minutes of the half and Barber proved more than equal to it, punching the ball clear. With a height advantage at almost every position, Swifts were happy to clear the ball anywhere, and confident they could deal with any ball delivered into the penalty area.

After the break, the already scrappy game degenerated into a tedious ugly affair. Mr Overall struggled to keep control as petty squabbles broke out frequently. Urged by manager Dave Anderson to keep their discipline and play their game, Hendon rose to the bait laid by Swifts and rather lost the plot.

At least in the opening 15 minutes, they did keep their minds on the game. After 57 minutes, Ofori was denied by a good save from Barber, who showed good goalkeeping instincts. He did even better to block a shot from Crace after Dale Binns and Ofori had carved an opening down the left flank.

Having thrown himself in front of the first shot, Barber did enough to force Crace to hurry the rebound and the striker, whose confidence has apparently dipped in the past couple of weeks, lifted the ball over the crossbar from six yards out.

In the 65th minute, after enduring minutes of abuse from the Heybridge bench, Plummer reacted. He was dragged away by a combination of Cousins, Steve Forbes and Cook, but the trouble simmered on. The assistant referee, in front of the dugout, must have heard what was going on, but did nothing.

Three minutes later, Cousins was late in a challenge and deservedly was shown a yellow card. Plummer then saw yellow too and somebody was sent from the Heybridge dugout.

Meanwhile, all over the pitch, challenges, ranging from reckless to dangerous were flying in and Mr Overall simply could not cope. Many, from both teams it must be said, did not even bring free-kicks, further upsetting the Hendon team, who were growing frustrated.

Dave King produced an excellent save to keep out a drive from Lee after 70 minutes and there was a feeling that Swifts could nick a goal to snatch the game.

Pat Gavin and Andre Delisser came on for Crace and Plummer, respectively, but neither substitute made Barber work. In the last 20 minutes, efforts from Steve Butler, Forbes, Cousins and Gavin all sailed harmlessly high or wide of the goal.

After the final whistle, the home team left the pitch to rousing cheers. For them, it was very much a point won in embattled circumstances.

"We've struggled against 10 men in the past," admitted Mr Anderson. "I told the players to keep their discipline and play to our style, but I think I was talking to a brick wall.

"But with the run that we have had, I'm not going to be too disappointed to have made a long Tuesday night trip and come back with a point. Our defence was again superb and I don't think we ever looked like conceding a goal."