Hendon and Thurrock provided excellent New Year's Day fare at Claremont Road on Thursday afternoon and their 1-1 draw was probably the right result. The teams started in sixth and fifth places, respectively, in the Ryman League Premier Division, but Hendon fell one position and Thurrock remained in the same spot.

>With Iain Duncan suspended, Dale Binns got a start in a 3-4-3 formation that allowed him a freeish role behind the front two, Martin Randall and Eugene Ofori. Dean Brennan dropped into the wing-back role.

In the opening minute, Hendon had penalty appeals waved away by Bucks referee Mr A Field. A deep cross from Scott Cousins found Randall and Jimmy McFarlane leaping together. The ball bounced off McFarlane's outstretched arm, but the central defender's limb was away from his body only for balance purposes.

Thurrock quickly got into their stride, but they felt the absence of the dangerous Cliff Akurang even more keenly than Hendon missed Duncan. Tresor Kandol remained a threat, with Terry Bowes prompting just behind him, though Lee Allen struggled to make an impact.

Nevertheless most of the battles in this area were won by the triumverate of Pat Gavin, Antony Howard and Mark Cooper. It was a similar case at the other end with Gary Howard, Craig Davidson and McFarlane comfortably on top and neither Dave King nor Paul Gothard could complain of overwork.

In fact, both teams looked to a defensive player for the promptings. For Hendon, Brennan and Cousins delivered teasing balls, while Dave Collis did likewise for the visitors.

In the 26th minute, Hendon should have taken the lead. A good attack down the Hendon right resulted in a cross from Brennan. Randall timed his run well and lost his marker. A cushioned header towards the near post would have brought a goal; instead the striker went for power and Gothard was able to make a save having almost over-committed himself.

Neither team could really dominate in midfield, where the Hendon duo of Jon-Barrie Bates and Andy Cook battled hard. In the 37th minute, as Hendon pressed forward, Thurrock took the lead. Gavin was pressurised by Steve Heffer and appeared to be pushed as he went to head the ball clear.

It spun off Gavin's head and back towards Howard, who had enough time to deal with the danger but decided to go back towards his own goal. The back-header was far too short and Paul LINGER nipped in with a lob that gave King, rushing off his line, no chance of making a save.

Within in a minute, Ofori beat Gothard with a well placed header, but the goalkeeper's power of prayer seemed to do the job as the ball narrowly sailed over the angle of post and crossbar.

Thurrock almost extended their lead in the opening minutes of the second half. Former Hendon man Heffer found himself in acres of space just inside the Hendon box, but he rushed his shot and the ball flew harmlessly wide of the target.

Ofori then forced Gothard into a fine save with a powerful shot that the goalkeeper needed two attempts to gather. Another snapshot was too close to Gothard to have much chance of beating the former England non-league international.

The same could not be said of Brennan's free-kick in the 67th minute. Brennan had won the free-kick with a committed challenge 10 yards outside the Thurrock box.

The midfielder, on loan from Stevenage, took a short while to rise after the challenge, but did not need treatment, which would have resulted in him leaving the field. BRENNAN lashed the ball with whip and curl. It clipped the very underside of the bar right at the angle of the far post and bounced into the net; a magnificent strike, one that would have beaten any goalkeeper.

Both teams made a couple of changes in the final quarter, Kris Lee and Jason Broom replacing Bowes and Kandol, respectively, while Steve Forbes ended almost 2 months on the sidelines by coming on for Cook and Fabian Forde took over for Binns.

Ofori almost set up a Hendon winner in the final minutes. He got around the back of the Thurrock defence and drilled in a low cross. Randall ran onto the ball but he was at full stretch and could not control the shot, which flew inches over the bar.

"I am pleased with the way we came back today," said manager Dave Anderson. "If anything, I think we created the better chances and Dean Brennan's free-kick was a bit special."