Hendon missed the chance to go to the top of the Ryman League Premier Division when they were held to a draw by unbeaten Kingstonian at Claremont Road on Tuesday night. It was a raw game for raw night and a draw was probably the right result.

Terrible conditions and an incident which closed Staples Corner meant that not only did the game kick-off late, but both teams were forced into making late changes as players struggled to reach Claremont Road. Paul Yates and Mark Cooper only arrived at half-time Ks only had 3 substitutes available.

Jon-Barrie Bates, Rob Hollingdale and Martin Randall came into the starting line-up at the expense of Cooper, Yates and Rob Haworth, who were all named on the substitutes bench, with Ricci Crace and Brian Haule completing the replacement quintet.

The game kicked off with a squally shower driving at Hendon's backs and it made the pitch - which looked and played perfectly - very slick. In the 4th minute Steve Forbes fired in a low shot that almost surprised Lance Key, who made a smart save low by his near post.

Try as they might, Hendon could not really cope with the strength of the wind and all too often the ball blew just that little bit too hard for players to control as they chased downfield. Kingstonian meanwhile tried to play the ball low out of defence, but even these clearances were frequently blown off course.

The second half got off to a controversial start. Awarded a free-kick 30 yards from goal, Kieran Gallagher smashed a cross to the far post where Paul Towler got around the back of the defence and headed the ball past Key. Sean Thurgood tried to clear the ball but succeeded only in slicing the ball into his own net. His blushes were saved by the assistant referee's flag which was raised for offside against Towler, but it was a borderline decision.

Three minutes later a shot from Eugene Ofori was dragged by the wind and Key was inconvenienced sufficiently to drop the ball as it curled towards the goal, but he was able to recover quickly.

Former England non-league international Phil Wingfield was the player least put out by the wind and he used the ball well throughout the evening. In the 58th minute, his cross was headed behind for a corner.

He took the corner himself and the wind did almost all the rest. As it bent crazily towards goal, David HOOK tried to punch it clear, but succeeded only in pushing the ball into his own net. Ten minutes later, Hook redeemed himself with a magnificent save from a Wingfield free-kick.

Crace replaced Hollingdale midway through the half, a move which forced Iain Duncan into a more defensive role, which was a pity because he had been a thorn in Ks side.Twelve minutes later, Haworth came on for the increasingly frustrated Randall, who was involved in a series of spats with Craig Lewington.

It proved to be an inspired change. Within moments of coming on, Haworth fired a shot at goal that OFORI deflected past Key and into the net for a well-deserved equaliser.

Both teams had chances to snatch a winner, but the game exploded in the dying minutes. First Jamie Burgess was sent off for a second yellow card, a clumsy challenge on Mark Jones as they and Towler arrived almost simultaneously at a loose ball.

Then, in stoppage time, a foul on a Hendon player close to the Hendon goal-line on the edge of the penalty area resulted in a Kingstonian fan jumping on the pitch and it took about 30 seconds before commonsense prevailed.

"This was a scrappy match," admitted manager Dave Anderson. "We have got to learn how to deal with big matches such as this. Having worked hard to get into the position we are in, we need to be comfortable with it."