Hendon lived to fight another day in the FA Umbro Trophy when they earned a 1-1 draw with Cambridge City at Milton Road on Saturday afternoon. With the replay scheduled for LOOT Stadium on Tuesday, it meant that the Greens' Middlesex Senior Cup tie was pushed back and probably cause a knock-on with the Sutton game delayed too.

The unfortunate thing about Saturday was that the main topics of post-match conversation were neither the pulsating cup-tie, nor the 3 free-kicks that David Beckham, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbainck or Gianfranco Zola would have been proud of, nor the fantastic support from the mass of Hendon fans, nor the team's great character in adversity. It was the performance and decisions of referee Mr Stephen Artis of Norwich.

Mr Artis - who does not appear to have officiated a weekend Premier Division fixture for at least 3 months - showed 5 yellow cards and one red, all to Hendon players - Dale Binns being the unfortunate recipient of a dreadfully harsh sending off. The first caution was of Jon-Barrie Bates who apparently had his studs showing as he landed after a header to put Steve Forbes through with a clear run on goal.

Even more disconcerting that those two decisions was the unevenness of his decision-making. Hendon clearly committed significantly more fouls than Cambridge, but while every Hendon indiscretion was punished with a free-kick, similar challenges from the home team went unpunished. If Binns was dismissed for retaliation, Handon fans wanted to know how Tim Wooding escpated with just a lecture for pushing over Paul Yates after he had committed a foul.

Enough of the refereeing. The game had more than enough talking points. Hendon welcomed back Paul Towler after a month away because his daughter Emma had been desperately ill over Christmas, while Gary McCann and Ricci Crace were both on the teamsheet - as substitutes - for the first time since September. With Leon Woodruffe cup-tied, Binns partnered Martin Randall up front, with Byron Bubb, joining Yates, Bates and Forbes in midfield. With Micky Woolner suspended, Towler replaced substitute Mark Burgess at right-back, allowing the rest of the defence - Simon Clarke, Steve Butler and Mark Cooper - to remain intact.

In the opening 90 seconds, Hendon had a great chance to open the scoring. Bubb carried the ball into the heart of the Cambridge half and passed to Randall. He spotted Binns make a run and the pass was perfectly into his path. Binns controlled the ball and drove powerfully. Matt Nurse, who was quickly off his line, made an excellent sprawling save as he spread himself.

FA Cup hero Roy Essandoh was barely a factor in the game. He picked up an ankle injury early in the game and limped out of the proceedings in the 18th minute, to be replaced by Matt Hann. His striking partner, Kevin Wilkin occasionally caused the Hendon defence a problem on a couple of occasions, but David Hook made to an excellent double-save from one chance and and the goalkeeper watched a free header sail wide.

Randall came close to opening his Hendon account with a low shot aimed just inside Nurse's right post, but the goalkeeper sprawled across to make a save. He made an instinctive stop to keep the scores level when stopped a misplaced defensive clearance from Jon Challinor. At the other end, Hann brought the best out of Hook before the game exploded just before the break.

Binns led an attack down the right wing, but his run was stopped by an unsubtle challenge from Wooding. The striker tried to pick himself up to take his place in the penalty area, but found his path blocked by Wooding, who kicked the ball away. Mr Artis called Binns to him and showed a red card. His reaction was one of complete disbelief. After the game it was discovered that the referee had seen him butt the man blocking his path, who kicked the ball away. Whatever contact there was could only have been minimal in the extreme.

From the free-kick, Bubb found Cooper completely unmarked just beyond the far post. Sadly for Hendon fans, he failed to direct his header on target so the chance went begging.

When asked by a couple of Hendon supporters, moments before the second half started, what Binns' dismissal had been for, assistant referee Stuart Burt, with an arrogant air, said he did know, but then added, "but I am not going to say." He also refused to divulge his name, but the teamsheet made identification easy.

The only tactical change Hendon made for the the second half was to play Bubb in a more central role, but leaving Randall as the lone striker. Cambridge had long displayed a weakness when faced by a player running with the ball and Bubb produced a fantastic run in the 48th minute. He danced through 5 attempted tackles, but his shot at Nurse was disappointingly weak. A goal at the end of that run would have been a candidate for goal of the season.

For most of the second half, it was almost impossible to tell that Hendon had only 10 men. Bubb was a constant source of danger, while Adam Wilde gave Towler a stern examination on the wing. Cambridge did not do themselves justice in terms of attempts on goal, because Hook was no busier than Nurse.

Eurgen Ofori replaced the tiring Randall midway through the second half and his trickery unsettled the Lilywhites. In the 77th minute, Forbes was fouled by Steve Wenlock, but kept his balance and ran in untouched on goal, rifling the ball past Nurse, but Mr Artis - who played an advantage when Hendon had had little in a central position on the edge of the box a few minutes earlier - gave a free-kick.

In the 81st minute Hendon took the lead. Ofori was brought down on the edge of the penalty area, leading to Wooding again kicking the ball away without punishment. Bubb made him pay with a superb free-kick that beat Nurse all ends up. It struck the angle of post and crossbar and rolled away from the goal towards the penalty spot. Quickest to react was OFORI, who slid the ball into the net. Hendon's players and fans went noisily beserk.

The lead lasted barely 2 minutes. A swallow dive by Wilkin over an outstretched leg - Hendon players were adamant there was no contact - conned Mr Artis who awarded a free-kick 20 yards from goal. WOODING's free-kick was probably better than Bubb's because it went straight in, lifted over the top of the wall.

Back came Hendon and, in the last minute of normal time, they almost snatched a deserved winner. Another mistimed tackle on the edge of the penalty area led to Hendon free-kick. Up stepped Bubb, whose strike was just a touch too hard, because if the ball had dipped half an inch, it would not have struck the bar beyond Nurse's dive, bounced up and been gratefully hacked clear.

Although, there had been almost no delays for injuries in the second half, Mr Artis somehow found 7 minutes of stoppage time. During the period, 16-year-old substitute Robbie Simpson almost snatched the spoils for the home team, but he just failed to connect with a near post header which flew across the face of goal.

I am really proud of the performance today," said manager Dave Anderson. "It was a typical cup-tie and we applied ourselves really well. The team spirit at the club is fantastic. I think we were the better team in the second half and created the better chances throughout the game."