Hendon and Wealdstone could not be separated after an excellent 90 minutes of entertainment at Vale Farm on Tuesday night. Both teams had chances to win but failed to take them and, if the truth be known, it was more a case of neither team deserving to lose rather than either side meriting winning pay. The result left Hendon just outside the playoff places, in sixth, with 44 points from 27 matches, behind Cray Wanderers on goal difference and two points adrift of fourth-placed Lewes.

The match, while full-blooded, was played in an excellent spirit and without any of the nastiness which has surrounded recent encounters. And, encouragingly for Hendon - boosted by a large contingent of visiting supporters - the crowd of 401 was the highest to watch the Greens at home in a Ryman League Premier Division match since they left Claremont Road in 2008.

There was one change to the Greens team which had seen off Horsham three days earlier, James Archer moving up from the substitutes bench to replace Dave Diedhiou, who was one of Hendon's five possible replacements. With Hendon's long injury list finally beginning to subside, manager Gary McCann may have some ticklish selection problems to deal with in the next few weeks.

It took less than five minutes for the game's first controversial moment. A through ball was deflected into the path of Richard Jolly, who immediately knocked it forward. His run towards Berkley Laurencin's goal was halted illegally by Ryan Wharton and Hendon fans feared the worst as the referee went to her pocket for a card.

It really should have been of the red variety as the striker, although not in full control of the ball, was unlikely to lose it. Additionally no other Hendon defender was remotely close enough to deny him what was an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

Luckily for Hendon, the card was yellow - a decision of great leniency and one which undoubtedly had a huge bearing on the outcome of the game. The free-kick, not far from the edge of the Hendon penalty area, came to nothing and the Greens breathed a second sigh of relief.

The match calmed down as both teams probed for openings. The industry in the middle of the field from both teams cancelled each other out, but Hendon gradually began to get toe-hold in the game.

In the 24th minute, Elliott Charles attacked down the left wing and was able to get in a cross which deflected off James Hammond. Jonathan North had to change his position, but the goalkeeper did very well to catch the spinning ball cleanly under pressure.

Four minutes later, after Britt Assombalanga had been shown a yellow card, Darren Currie became the player in the referee's notebook. If Wharton had been extremely lucky to receive only a yellow card for his indiscretion, Currie was even more unfortunate.

He had played a superb one-two with Michael Lewis on the edge of the penalty area and his first touch took him past one of two defenders. The second one lunged in and caught Currie, sending him to the ground inside the penalty area.

Had the foul not been committed, Currie would have been given a clear sight of North's goal and would have had an instant shooting chance. However, the referee took the view that Currie had taken a dive and cautioned the experienced midfielder.

Hendon continued to press and wasted four good chances in 10 minutes just past the half-hour mark. Elliott Godfrey was the first to try his luck, but he put his effort narrowly wide of the target. Next was Kevin Maclaren, who blazed high over the top of the goal and then there were two shots from Greg Ngoyi - against his former club - but he fired first wide and then over the target.

As the first half moved into stoppage time, Hendon's pressure paid off and they took a deserved lead. Great approach work involving Lewis, Scott Cousins and Currie resulted in the latter getting an opening 25 yards out. This time there was no shot. Instead it was what one of the crowd described as "the best pass I have seen in the Ryman League this season," and Ngoyi got the faintest of touches, enough to wrong-foot North.

Ngoyi wheeled away in celebration, joined by Lewis. Every other player ran to congratulate Currie, whom they believed had been the scorer. The body language of Ngoyi suggested that he had applied a zephyr-like touch on the ball as it went into the bottom corner.

There was barely time to restart play before the half-time whistle blew. Scoring on the stroke of half-time is always considered doubly important because of the psychological boost it gives. On this occasion, Wealdstone were probably the happier to hear the whistle because Hendon were looking likely to score with almost every attack.

The second half started as the first had ended, with Hendon on top. Godfrey had a good shooting opportunity which he failed to take and then, from a great position, Charles failed to hit the target with a free header. It was a turning point in the match.

In the 52nd minute, David Hicks broke up a Hendon pass in the centre circle. Hicks strode forward, ignored shouts for the ball from an open Jolly and, when he got to 25 yards out, drilled a powerful low shot into the bottom corner, beyond the desperate dive of Laurencin.

Buoyed by the goal, Wealdstone went in search of second and took control of the next period of the match. In the 56th minute, Kurtney Brooks found himself in space, just outside the penalty area.

His drive took a deflection, sending it even closer to the angle of post and crossbar but a magnificent effort from Laurencin saw the goalkeeper claw the ball away at the expense of a corner. The cheers of Wealdstone fans, rising to acclaim a second goal in four minutes, were stilled and the corner was cleared without too much difficulty.

Two more Wealdstone efforts whistled past the outside of the uprights as they pushed back the Hendon defence. But James Fisher and Wharton deserve a great deal of credit for keeping Jolly quiet throughout the second half. The lone striker's role probably doesn't suit the goal-poaching type of forward such as Jolly, and he became increasingly frustrated as the evening wore on.

Three minutes after former Hendon favourite Peter Dean had replaced Chris O'Leary, and with 16 of normal time remaining, Assombalonga, well kept in check throughout the match, did make room for a shot at goal. Cleanly struck, the attempt was too close to Laurencin, who dealt with it competently, but it was another warning that Hendon had to be on their guard.

Almost immediately, Hendon made a double substitution, Lewis and Ngoyi making way for Carl McCluskey and Isaiah Rankin. Wealdstone countered by withdrawing Hicks and replacing him with Scott Fitzgerald.

The game became even more open, with both teams creating half-chances but failing to make either goalkeeper work. Any crosses that came into the penalty area were well dealt with by Laurencin and North.

With both teams going all out for the victory, attacks and counter-attacks came at regular intervals. One such break by Hendon saw four green shirts running at two in yellow. Rankin was tripped by one of the defenders, but move continued before ultimately breaking down.

It took almost two minutes before play would next be stopped, by which time the referee had either forgotten about the foul on the half-way line or decided to ignore it. Having played an excellent advantage in the first place, the official failed to issue an appropriate sanction.

Jerome Federico came on for Charles with three minutes of normal time remaining and he galvanised the Greens with his extra pace and the width he provided. The last thing Wealdstone's tiring defenders wanted to see was a tricky winger and Federico announced his intention with a good run, but it was well stopped by Dominic Sterling.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Hendon thought they had won match. Good work down the right wing was followed by a low cross which fell to McCluskey. Faced by Hammond, McCluskey moved the ball a yard or two infield and then struck a curling shot towards the inside of the far post.

Just as with Brooks's effort for Wealdtone earlier in the half, the celebratory cheers of Hendon fans were stilled as North somehow stretched full length and pushed the ball away from danger. It was a truly outstanding save, one which guaranteed his team a point and extended Wealdstone's run to one defeat in 22 matches.

"It might have been a good game for fans, but as a manager I didn't enjoy it," admitted Stones boss Gordon Bartlett. "It was far too tense for me to enjoy it."

Hendon manager Gary McCann said, "I thought it was an excellent game, but I am disappointed we didn't get all three points. I think we just shaded it and created the better chances, but we didn’t take them."