Hendon drew 2-2 with Lewes on Saturday afternoon, despite playing for nearly 70 minutes with nine men, a result that leaves the Rooks heavily embroiled in the fight against relegation.

Gary McCann rotated his squad once again, and for the second game in a row his charges lined up without a recognised striker in the line-up with all the front men carrying injuries.

In the 9th minute the Greens were reduced to ten men when the referee ruled that Sam Flegg had denyed a goalscoring opportunity and awarded Lewes a spot kick.

Karl Beckford stepped up to take the spot kick, but slammed his effort against the bar, and the Greens were able to clear the ball to safety.

In the 15th minute, Hendon took the lead. The visitors gave away a foul around 25 yards from goal. Scott Cousins stepped up and curled the ball into the box, and Dean Cracknell left his marker, Joe Kay, standing and flicked the ball into the net with his head.

Within six minutes, the Greens were down to nine men, as another contentious incident occured. Lewes gave away a free kick midway in the Hendon half, but one of their players walked away with the ball. A bit of a fracas broke out, after which Casey Maclaren was sent off for violent conduct, and visiting attacker Nathan Crabb was cautioned for his part in the incident.

However, for the remainder of the first half, it didn't look like the Greens were two men down, and just after the half hour mark they doubled the lead.

Dean Cracknell received the ball on the corner of the 18 yard box, and spotted Kevin Maclaren in acres of space. Cracknell fed the ball into the path of the younger Maclaren brother, and he drew the keeper out of his goal and slipped the ball past him.

Lewes were given a lifeline just before half-time when they were awarded a second penalty. Player-manager Simon Wormull took responsibility and cooly slotted the ball past Sean Thomas.

The second half saw the visitors lay siege to the Hendon goal, the Greens defending in numbers, leaving Cracknell on his own up front as a loan front man.

The performance from the home side was nothing short of heroic, with every player putting their bodies on the line, whilst Cracknell worked extremely hard to keep possession when he had the ball.

Lewes changed things around just before the hour mark, with Ben Godfrey replacing Jack Walder, and shortly afterwards Hendon introduced fresh legs as Lee O'Leary replaced the tiring Dave Diedhiou.

However, whilst Lewes had the majority of possession in the second period, they struggled to create much in the way of clear cut chances due to the sheer commitment of the Greens and their defending in numbers.

With eight minutes to go, the final three subsitutions were made. Dominik Ozga and Jordan Stubbings replaced Wormull and Beckford for the Rooks, whilst Carl McCluskey replaced Cracknell for the Greens.

And with four minutes of normal time to go, the resolve of the Hendon defence was broken as Godfrey bundled the ball home from close range.

Lewes created one more chance to score when the ball fell to Harry Harding around 20 yards from goal, but just as his effort appeared to be dipping below the crossbar, Thomas leapt and tipped the ball over the bar. From the resulting corner Chris Breach fired a free header over the bar for a goalkick.

Despite there being over five minutes of stoppage time, but the Greens were able to hold on and secure the point their heroic performance deserved, and in truth, many felt that the performance deserved all three.

The players left the pitch to a wonderful ovation from the Hendon faithful who showed appreciation for such a wonderful hard working effort from the squad.

"That was a real heroic performance", said Gary McCann after the game.

"The players really worked hard for each other, and I am extremely proud of them. It is those kind of performances that motivate a manager."