Hendon, with two players - Dave Hunt and Pat Gavin - making their league debut, sputtered to an undistinguished draw against an Aylesbury United team under new management and struggling to move away from the bottom of the table.

It would be fair to say that both teams will have a distinctly different look when they next take the field. Hendon will have Mark Burgess, Jon-Barrie Bates and Martin Randall back from suspension, while Andre Delisser will hopefully have recovered from flu and Ricci Crace may also be fit. A place may also be found for Ricardo Alves, who impressed in his 20-odd-minute burst.

Aylesbury, with former Bedford boss Kevin Wilson at the helm for only the second game, will no doubt be looking to strengthen their squad sooner rather than later, but they immediately benefited from the arrival of another former Eagle, Paul Covington, who solidified their defence.

The game, unsurprisingly given the state of the teams, was a rather patchwork affair too, though the second half was significantly better and more open than the opening one. A good save from Dave King, denying Alex Stanley was the only action of note in the opening quarter.

In the 25th minute, a long throw-in caused havoc in the Hendon penalty area and when the ball fell at the feet of Chris BANGURA, there was nobody close enough to make his finish even remotely difficult, so Aylesbury took the lead.

Hendon's equaliser arrived 7 minutes later and came from a rare piece of flowing football from the Dons. It started with the ball on the left wing and both Eugene Ofori and Gavin played passes before the latter put in HUNT, who timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap and the youngster lifted a delicate chip over Kevin Davies.

As the half wound down, Ofori worked himself an opening, albeit under pressure from Danny Gordon. His first touch was not the best and it allowed Davies to come racing off his line to block Ofori's shot. Unfortunately for Gordon, he was sandwiched between the other players and he required lengthy treatment.

Aylesbury made 2 changes at half-time, Dean Powles and Leon Gordon replacing Gordon and Stanley. Neither player stamped their authority on the game, but that was pretty much the story of the whole evening: lots of perspiration, almost no inspiration.

Ofori and Gavin became very isolated and Hendon's passing was sadly wayward. On the rare occasions when passes did find their men, Hendon looked dangerous and a sharp shot from Scott Cousins was saved at the second attempt by Davies.

Although Aylesbury enjoyed the bulk of possession the Dons defence held the upper hand, although King had to go sprawling by his right post to keep out an effort from Bangura.

The best chance of the half fell to Ofori, who was able get a clear run at goal. But the Ghanaian striker, probably no more than 80 percent fit, didn't strike the ball well and although it rolled through Davies' legs, the keeper was able to turn around and dive on it.

Hendon introduced Alves midway through the second half, at the expense of Steve Forbes, and the Brazilian wasted little time in making an impact. Latching onto a loose ball 25 yards from goal, he let fly. The ball was booked for the top corner, until Davies flew across his goal and produced an excellent save.

As the game petered out, James Burgess replaced Cousins, a signal that Hendon were happy with one point, rather than determined to go for 3.

Manager Dave Anderson said, "We had a real patchwork quilt of a side out tonight and although I am disappointed we didn't win, we were down to the bare bones. I must mention Pat Gavin, who performed well for on his debut."