Hendon slipped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Sutton United at Gander Green Lane on Tuesday night. They were authors of their own misfortune, failing to take a number of excellent chances, while conceding goals from set-pieces outside and in the penalty area.

Injuries to Byron Bubb and Martin Randall meant Hendon had to bring in Dale Binns and Leon Woodruffe, respectively, and it left the Dons critically short of experience in attack. Nevertheless both players caused discomfort to Sutton's defence, but no clear cut chances were created.

In the 15th minute, Hendon conceded a free-kick on the edge of their penalty area and were made to pay for it. Phil WINGFIELD struck a beautiful curling kick over the defensive wall, off the underside of the crossbar and into the net, with David Hook little more than a spectator.

A minute later, Simon Clarke let fly with a magnificent 25-yard right-foot drive. It was tipped over the bar by Tom Dunn at full stretch. The corner was not properly cleared and when Binns drilled in a cross to the near post, Dunn dived at Ricci Crace's feet to deny the striker a tap-in equaliser.

The next 20 minutes were fairly uneventful. Hendon won a couple of free-kicks, but the delivery was not to where blue shirts were and Sutton cleared the danger without too much difficulty. The closest was a curled cross from Micky Woolner which narrowly eluded a lunging Paul Towler.

In the 38th minute, a curling corner from Wingfield was dropping towards Scott Corbett beyond the far post, but he could not get to the ball as a Hendon defender bundled him to the ground. Up stepped Matt GRAY, who dispatched the resulting penalty without fuss.

Just before half time, a deep cross from Paul Yates drew Dunn off his line. He was never likely to make it and Woodruffe beat him to the ball. Unfortunately the striker's flicked header was hooked clear by Paul Honey a couple of yards from the line.

Three minutes into the second half, Binns missed a great chance to pull a goal back when he lost his marker at the far post, but could not direct a free header from 6 yards on target. A minute later, a free-kick from Micky Woolner found a diving Steve Forbes, but the midfielder's header, at full stretch, looped just over the crossbar,

Hendon pressed hard for a goal, but either over-elaboration or simply underhit passes thwarted them. Crace and Woodruffe each had shots palmed away by Dunn, but there was an air of desperation about them.

In defence, Hendon were rarely under concerted pressure. In the 74th minute, they did have a lucky escape when Rob Haworth planted a free header wide of the post from about 10 yards out.

Eugene Ofori and Mark Cooper came on for Paul Yates and Jon-Barrie Bates, respectively, as Hendon tried a different formation - Steve Butler moved into midfield - but the final ball into the danger area continued to be unsatisfactory.

Suddenly, in the 88th minute, Hendon got a dead-ball right. Binns, who appeared to be able to get the better of either full-back almost at will - only to find his delivery missing team-mates - invited Lewis Gonsalves to make a reckless challenge, which he duly did.

Woolner curled in another free-kick and this time BUTLER got his run perfectly and buried a close range header. Although there were nearly 5 minutes of stoppage time, Hendon could not create another opening and Sutton were able to play out time relatively comfortably.

"We lost to two set pieces," admitted manager Dave Anderson, "but the free-kick would have graced any stage in the world. As performances go, it was a long way from perfect, but I thought we were worth a draw."