Hendon were denied a place in the fourth round qualifying of the FA Cup with Budweiser when Eastbourne Borough's Chris Shephard scored an 85th-minute equaliser at Priory Lane on Saturday afternoon. It was, on paper, a surprise result given the Greens' poor start to the season, but they were well worth the draw and might just have shaded the contest overall.

There were a trio of changes from the team which lost at Leiston a week earlier, Howard Hall, Michael Murray and Isaiah Rankin dropping to the subs' bench and Ryan Wharton, Casey Maclaren and Greg Ngoyi starting in their places. Sean Thomas was on the bench after four weeks out, as was Carl McCluskey, his first such appearance this season.

For the neutral fan this was a very good afternoon's entertainment, with almost nothing to separate the two teams. They created a similar number of chances and will feel that with a little luck would have won the tie.

Eastbourne, who have struggled in the last couple of seasons after being relegated from the Blue Square Bet (Conference) Premier Division in 2011, started brightly, but David Knight and former Potters Bar man Ellis Remy got absolutely nothing out of James Fisher and George McCluskey.

Scott Cousins had to deal with the frequently-dangerous Shephard and did a good job on him. Wharton, meanwhile, without an out-and-out wide player to confront, was able to assist Casey Maclaren down the right flank. In the centre of midfield, Scott Shulton and Dean Cracknell had maybe their most influential matches of the season, ably assisted by the hard-working Kevin Maclaren.

Up front, Greg Ngoyi and Elliott Charles gave ex-Barnet centre-back Unwar Uddin and former Brighton defender Ollie Rowe a torrid afternoon. In the sixth minute, the centre-backs and goalkeeper Nick Jordan got into a mess and Ngoyi almost capitalised.

Just before the 20-minute mark, Knight forced a great save from Berkley Laurencin after a drive from Shephard had hit Remy and fallen into Knight's path.

Charles and Ngoyi both had half-chances to give Hendon the first half lead, but the closest the Greens came to a goal was in the 26th minute when Cracknell intercepted a pass from Marvin Hamilton and ran into the penalty area. His low ball was destined for Ngoyi.

Uddin and Rowe ran into each other in their haste to block the ball and the former lashed it against the inside of his own post. Borough players and fans alike breathed a sigh of relief as the rebound favoured them.

Cracknell almost opened the scoring with a header, aimed at the far post, which floated wide after 35 minutes. Two minutes later, a speculative drive from Kevin Maclaren flew over the bar and Jordan then produced a brilliant save to keep out a clever strike from Shulton.

Having had the better of the exchanges for most of the first half, Hendon were forced onto the back foot for the final few minutes of the period and Laurencin produced two excellent saves to keep out shots from Knight and Shephard, while a long-range shot from Ben Adelsbury narrowly missed the Hendon goal.

Goals had to come in this game and the second half was barely 90 seconds old when Hendon took the lead. Great anticipation from Casey Maclaren allowed him to intercept a pass from Sam Cole to Ben Adams.

His instant pass released Charles, who ran at the retreating Eastbourne rearguard. He could have gone for goal himself, but he saw Ngoyi was in a better position and unselfishly passed the ball to him. Taking a touch to steady himself, and another to draw Jordan off his line, Ngoyi slipped the ball into the net without fuss.

Eastbourne tried to hit back immediately, but their balls into the penalty area were dealt with comfortably by either Fisher or McCluskey or Laurencin. Shephard did force another fine save from Laurencin after 59 minutes and a great block denied Remy eight minutes later.

An ailing Charles was replaced by Rankin, nine minutes after Darren Lock had replaced Adams and Charlie Gorman had come on for Knight as Eastbourne went three up front. Borough's move paid off in the 71st minute when Shephard drilled in a flicked-on set piece, giving Laurencin no chance.

Hendon's response was almost immediate. A great through ball from Cracknell invited Ngoyi to run onto it and his deft lob floated over Jordan and just under the crossbar.

With 10 minutes to go Jack Mazzone took over from Ngoyi and Eastbourne then made their last, desperate, change. They sent on giant central defender David Obaze for his debut and his first act was to set up the equaliser.

A free-kick was pumped into the Hendon penalty area and Fisher was perfectly placed to clear it until Obaze used his size to barge him aside and flicked on the ball. No free-kick was given and Shephard scored his second goal of the afternoon.

In stoppage time, Casey Maclaren went off with cramp and Howard Hall replaced him for the four minutes of stoppage time.

Shulton, however, saw a straight red with 30 seconds of stoppage time remaining when the referee ruled he had raised his foot dangerously after clearing the ball off Cole by his own corner flag.

Hendon, however, were able to defend the free-kick without too much difficulty and a few seconds later, the final whistle was blown.

"I am really pleased with the performance," said Hendon manager Gary McCann. "We went toe-to-toe with a Conference South club.

"I am disappointed we didn't win the game. In fact, it felt a bit like a defeat.

"It was a very entertaining game, especially for the neutrals in the crowd."