Hendon showed resilience in coming back from a goal down to beat Lewes in a strange encounter at the Dripping Pan on Saturday afternoon. Both teams were reduced to 10 men after 40 minutes of a thoroughly unpleasant opening half.

The Hendon starting 11 was the same as the one which took on Hampton & Richmond Borough on Tuesday night, but there were three changes to the bench because Lee O'Leary and Chris Seeby were suspended and Peter Dean was unwell. Sam Murphy, Roman Michael-Percil and Scott Cousins came in, though the last-named - and Aaron Morgan were unused.

There was, however, drama on the Lewes side before kick-off when goalkeeper Rikki Banks injured his ankle in the warm-up. Defender Jordan Badger completed the goalkeeper's warm-up and it looked as if he was going to start between the posts until Banks said he would try to play through the pain.

After five minutes, as Elliott Brathwaite and James Fraser contested a ball punted downfield, the Hendon man collapsed to the ground clutching his face. A stray elbow opened up a cut and Brathwaite was off the pitch for more than five minutes. After discussing the incident with his assistant, the referee produced a yellow card.

In the 15th minute, Hendon conceded a corner from which Lewes took the lead. The ball was played into the penalty area and a Lewes player appeared to be either pulled or pushed to the ground. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot and showing the offender, Charlie Goode, a yellow card.

Sam Cole took responsibility for the spot-kick. Although his shot was almost straight down the middle, Ben McNamara dived to one side and the ball went past his feet into the net.

In the 20th minute, a short pass from James Fisher caused Casey Maclaren to stretch for the ball and he appeared to catch Tom Fraser. The referee was very close to the incident and saw nothing wrong.

Tom Fraser was, however, aggrieved and he appeared to respond violently a few seconds later, allegedly elbowing Casey Maclaren in the back of the neck. None of the three match officials saw the attack because, had they done so, there was every chance of a red card.

Five minutes later, a ball played from the left wing brought Banks off his line and he showed that his bravery was foolhardy because he fumbled the ball. Leon Smith tried to knock the rebound into the net but the ball didn't drop quickly enough and he lobbed onto the top of the net.

In the 28th minute, there was another injury for Lewes as centre-back Gary Elphick pulled up with a hamstring problem. He tried to continue but it soon became clear that could neither run nor kick the ball, so Matt Crabb replaced him after 33 minutes.

Lewes should have doubled their advantage after 38 minutes when a deflected shot bounced kindly for former QPR striker Leroy Griffiths. His effort, easier than Smith's a few minutes, had the same fate, clearing the crossbar.

Three minutes before the end of first-half normal time, the match exploded. Kevin Maclaren made a dangerous and reckless tackle from behind. Immediately players from both sides were involved in a square dance, only the two goalkeepers and Smith staying away from the fray.

From the touchline, the ball was thrown aggressively into the fray, aimed at someone. The culprit appeared to be Griffiths and after the three match officials had waited for the skirmish to die down, the referee issued red cards to both Kevin Maclaren and Griffiths.

Hendon came out for the second half determined to put their poor first half behind them. Lewes came out of the dressing room physically, but not mentally, because it took them almost half an hour to be even competitive anywhere on the pitch. In fact, it looked as if the Rooks were playing with fewer players on the pitch than Hendon.

It took Lewes barely three minutes to lose their advantage and Banks' immobility let himself and his teammates down. Goode intercepted a wayward pass midway inside the Hendon half and strode forward without a red shirt near him.

He went 25 metres before playing the ball into the penalty area. A fully- (or even half-) fit Banks would have been off his line and collected the ball before anyone else could have reached it.

However, Banks was rooted to his line, Kezie Ibe got in front of Chris Breach and toe-poked the ball off the defender inside the near post with Banks unable to make a save.

The reaction from the Lewes bench was almost immediate and, in the 52nd minute, Badger came on for Banks. This meant that Lewes had lost their central striker, centre-half and goalkeeper, the spine of the team, and the goal they had conceded stripped them of their already fragile confidence.

Badger's first act was to pick the ball out of the back of the net. In the 54th minute, Hendon raided down the left side, the ball ended up at the feet of Casey Maclaren and he lashed the ball inside the near post.

Whether a recognised goalkeeper would have been able to make a save is pure conjecture, but the chances are his positioning might have made Maclaren's angle more difficult. The power of the strike, however, was fierce and might have resulted in a goal anyway.

There was almost half an hour to go when Lewes, in desperation, made their last change, replacing Tom Fraser with another veteran striker, former St Kitts & Nevis international, Callum Willock making his debut. After just one training session with the team, it was clear he was not aware of team patterns or formations and played a lone role - and against Brathwaite he got no joy.

In fact Brathwaite very nearly scored an outstanding goal in the 69th minute. He stepped in front of Willock and broke downfield, without a single player attempting to challenge him for 40 yards.

A quick one-two saw Brathwaite stride into the box, where he beat two challenges. His drive was saved by Badger - like a defender or ice-hockey goaltender - a powerful left leg diverting the ball to safety with his hands nowhere it.

Hendon made their three changes in five minutes, Smith, Da Costa and Fisher making way for Murphy, Max McCann and Michael-Percil. More importantly, the Greens retreated into their defensive shell and preferred to attack on the counter.

Cole finished off one good move with a powerful low shot which was saved by McNamara. That apart, Lewes didn't look like finding a way through the Greens, while Michael-Percil probably should have done better after a dangerous run into the Rooks danger area.

Four minutes of stoppage time were a little nervous - Badger joined the attack for two or three set-pieces but didn't get close to the ball - but Hendon were able to see out time.