Hendon's Boxing Day match against Harrow Borough was forgettable on so many levels. The weather was awful, the game was an even match for it and, for the Greens at least, the result was worse, a 1-0 defeat.

Liam Brooks dropped out the squad with an illness and this meant there was a first start for Andronicos Georgiou and a newcomer on the bench in Luca Allinson.

With only two points separating the clubs at the wrong end of the Southern League South Premier Division table, Hendon knew that a victory would lift them above their longest-lasting current rivals. But it was Harrow who started brighter and, in the first minute, had penalty claims waved aside for a push as the ball came in from a corner.

Two minutes later, George Moore drilled a shot which Rihards Matrevics didn't gather cleanly. He was, however, quick to regather the ball before Marc Charles-Smith was able to reach it.

With a strong wind, driving rain and the slope all in Hendon's favour, they needed to set the pace, but it didn' really work that way. Neither Lucas Perry nor Joe Howe were able to get forward from their full-back positions, and Shaun Lucien - as a former player, well-known to Borough - and Georgiou were kept relatively quiet for most of the first 20 minutes.

Suddenly Georgiou came alive. Cutting inside from the right side, he found himself and opening and fired a shot which Luca Ashby-Hammond saved at full stretch.

After 28 minutes, Ashby-Hammond did even better to deny Georgiou, who again tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area. A few minutes later, Hendon had a scare when a low cross bounced awkwardly for Matrevics and Tom Smith did well to reach the loose ball ahead of the preying Charles-Smith.

Eight minutes before half-time, Georgiou again got the better of Chinua Cole. His curling shot beat Ashby-Hammond, but did not drop until after it had cleared the crossbar.

The second half didn't start well for Hendon. Tommy Brewer could not continue after an earlier knock, so Sergio Manesio replaced him.

In the 57th minute, Hendon offended on the edge of the penalty area. The free-kick struck by former Hendon and Northern Ireland winger Michael Bryan was acrobatically tipped over the crossbar by Matrevics.

From the first corner, the wind-blown set-piece again need a full-stretch intervention from the 6ft 7in Latvian, at the expense of another corner. This time, George Fenton went close with an attempt, but the ball missed the target.

With just over 20 minutes to go, Smith was cautioned for a foul 10 yards outside his penalty area. The ball came into the danger area, was flicked on and, unmarked just beyond the far post, CHARLES-SMITH swept the ball into the net.

The game reverted to its midfield stodginess, over-populated and lacking in imagination. Kingsley Eshun, who had ploughed a lone furrow up front for the Greens, got company - briefly - when Reece Mitchell was introduced in 71st-minute, replacing Joe Felix.

With 10 minutes to go, Moore chased a ball to the touchline and when it beat him over the line and rebounded to him, he pushed the ball away from the Hendon player looking to take a quick throw-in. To his surprise, Moore was cautioned for his time-wasting act, and it would have serious consequences later.

Kam English replaced Eshun for the final ten minutes, while Harrow strengthened their defensive rearguard with changes of their own. As for chances, neither team really looked like to change the score.

Entering the final minute, Moore made another careless challenge. The referee had no hesitation in producing a yellow and then a red card.

Moore deliberately dawdled as he left the pitch and was helped with a shove by a Hendon player. This left to more pushing and shoving, resulting in two more yellow cards, one for each team.

It was an unsightly end to a pretty miserable afternoon. The result keeps Hendon on the edge of the relegation zone with a lot of work to be done if the Greens are to move away from danger. One small positive was the crowd of 305, the second-highest at Silver Jubilee Park this season and third most at Silver Jubilee Park since Hendon left the Isthmian League.