Hendon's Ryman League Premier Division title hopes took another knock when a Dulwich Hamlet scored a controversial equaliser in the last couple of minutes. It means that a Maidstone victory, combined with the Greens dropping points at Grays, next Saturday will give the Kent side the championship.

In a slow burner of a game - neutrals in the crowd of 376 thought it was a classic - Hendon had only 42 hours to get themselves back up from the 4-4 draw at Margate, then had to play the last 52 minutes with 10 men after James Fisher was dismissed.

The Greens made four changes to the team which had played at Hartsdown Park. The injured Casey Maclaren and Lee O'Leary (the latter was also serving a one-game suspension) made way for Andre Da Costa and Peter Dean, while Sam Flegg came in for Dave Diedhiou and Leon Smith replaced Kezie Ibe, the latter two going to the bench.

Conditions were far from ideal, with a combination of strong wind and a hard, bouncy and bobbly pitch making it difficult for two teams, both of whom like to play a passing game. It meant, for at least the first 25 minutes, that there was little of note in terms of attacking play, though Dulwich did have more possession and looked slightly more dangerous in attack.

In the 27th minute, Jordan Hibbert attacked down the Dulwich left. The left-back looked for a pink and blue shirt who was open, but found none, so unleashed a vicious, dipping, swerving drive. Ben McNamara launched himself to the ball and managed to catch as it flew towards the roof of the net.

A minute later, Hibbert was making a goal-saving block. Smith took a short pass from Dean, turned and fired towards the near post. Phil Wilson would have struggled to reach the ball, but Hibbert’s intervention meant he didn’t have to make a save.

In the 38th minute, Smith went down in a challenge with Hibbert. Play continued and Fisher made a reckless and dangerous attempted tackle on Albert Jarrett. The Dulwich man was down briefly, but he had leapt out of the way of Fisher's outstretched boot.

It would be fair to say, given that Fisher actually failed to make contact with the Dulwich player, that both red and yellow cards were reasonable sanctions. But the refeee was not wrong to dismiss the Hendon man; more accurately, he would have been extremely fortunate to receive only a caution.

As Fisher ran towards the changing rooms, Diedhiou was introduced at the expense of the sacrificed Da Costa, a better defensive midfield option being the key to the Hendon bench's decision.

Dulwich really didn't take advantage of the extra man in the minutes before half time and the interval gave Hendon the chance to regroup for a key 45 minutes.

The half didn't start well for the Greens and they were on the back foot from almost the kick-off. And, for the third consecutive game, Hendon conceded in the 49th minute.

Defensively, it was sloppy from the Greens, who lost the ball on the edge of their penalty area. It was moved to the right side, where Xavier Vidal took control of it. He took the ball past Ollie Sprague, made space for a shot and fired a fierce drive across McNamara into the far corner.

A couple of minutes later, Matt Drage embarrassed himself and football when, watched closely by both the referee and his assistant, he lost a challenge with Smith and collapsed to the ground. Neither official even flinched as Drage went down and when play stopped, the centre-half suddenly got up.

Dulwich continued to look dangerous, but Elliott Brathwaite and Charlie Goode kept Harry Ottaway quiet. Also, the final ball into the penalty also lacked enough guile to create a clear opening.

Midway through the second half, Goode created Hendon's equaliser in dramatic fashion. He broke up play just outside his own penalty area, quickly got the better of a challenge with Jarrett. Reaching half-way, he accelerated past Ethan Pinnock, then Hibbert.

On getting into the penalty area, Goode looked up to see where Morgan and Smith were, but as he was about to cross the ball, Ottaway brought him down. To be fair to the Dulwich striker, he had chased Goode for about 65 metres and his challenge was a typical "centre-forward's tackle".

It merited a caution - which it got - and a penalty - which also was awarded. Sam Murphy, taking his third penalty in eight days, smashed the ball past Wilson and it hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced down and hit roof of the net.

Ibe replaced Morgan with 16 minutes to go, while the speedy Nyren Clunis and Shaun McCoulsky took over from Ottaway and Jarrett, just to add to Hendon's discomfiture and tiredness.

In the 80th minute, Hendon won a throw-in level with the Dulwich 18-yard-box. Brathwaite took the long throw, which was headed back to the captain.

Brathwaite calmly controlled the ball and sent a deep cross to the far end of the six-yard box. The Dulwich defence stood still as the ball floated over their heads, then watched in horror as Diedhiou raced and in carefully guided a header across Wilson and just inside the far post.

Almost immediately, Kevin Maclaren came on to shore up the midfield, replacing Dean, who had given a superb 81 minutes. Dulwich sent on Kevin James in place of Clunis.

Was this goal that would keep the title hopes truly alive. The answer was an emphatic "no" as Hibbert improved on his first-half strike. His 25-yard angled drive flew past McNamara, smashed off the underside of the crossbar, and the assistant referee ruled that the ball had just crossed the line. Hendon players' complaints about the goal being awarded were waved aside.

And things almost got even worse a couple of minutes later. Ashley Carew cut from the wing and fired a shot that beat McNamara, but flew inches wide of the post.

In terms of effort and commitment, it would have been an injustice if Hendon had lost all three points. Dulwich, however, playing against 10 exhausted men for more than 50 minutes may dominated for large stretches, but they probably didn't do enough to earn maximum points.