Hendon left it late to see off the determined challenge of Hartley Wintney at a windy Silver Jubilee Park. After an even first half, the Greens, with the slope and strong wind in their favour, dominated the second stanza and probably should have had more than a solitary goal to show for their efforts before the Row’s 82nd-minute equaliser.

Simeon Olarerin came in for the suspended Tafari Moore, while Joseph Okotcha and Christian Smith came in for Will Hall and Anis Nuur. On the bench was loan arrival Ricardo German, who left Silver Jubilee Park for League Two Crawley Town in early 2019 after scoring 21 goals in 28 appearances.

The visitors suffered a blow in the warm-up when Ryan Case broke down in the and Malachi Robinson was drafted into the starting 11. Nonetheless, they had the first chance of the game, in the seventh minute, when Matt Drage’s glanced near-post header from a corner drifted just wide of the back stick.

Ten minutes later, Tom Williams produced the first of his handful of excellent saves when Jayden Clarke drilled an Eren Kinali corner goalwards only for the goalkeeper to intervene. In the 29th minute, however, Williams was nearly embarrassed by Smith who spotted him some way off his goalline.

Smith has already scored from inside his own half this season and he tried again. All too late, Williams realised the ball was on its way and he back-pedalled furiously. Fortunately for him, the wind blew the ball just off course because if it had dropped into the goal he would been left helpless.

This gave The Row the idea that long-range efforts might be better than trying to get the better of Smith, Okotcha, Olarerin, Mo Nugent and Quba Gordon, from whom they were getting little success. Their efforts, however, rarely were near the goal and Ethan Wady had little to do.

Six minutes into the second half, Liam Brooks released Kinali and he was through on goal. The winger’s shot was not cleanly struck and Williams made a comfortable save.

Four minutes later, the keeper had to be at the top of his game when a defensive lapse allowed Hamza Semakula to have clear run. Williams came off his line and made an excellent block to keep the game scoreless.

Just before the hour mark, Hendon were given a warning as Joshua Webb broke from midfield and tried his luck from 25 yards. Wady was forced to make a save which he did with a degree of comfort.

The deadlock was broken in the 61st minute and it was a delightful move which brought the goal. Kinali passed to Nugent, who looked up a played a short pass inti the path of Smith.

Logic suggested that Smith should pass inside towards Joe White, but instead he angled the ball forward to his right, where Clarke was breaking. The Row defence was slow to react and Clarke had a clear run at goal.

His shot beat Williams but any questions about where the ball would have ended were rendered moot as WHITE slid in, just ahead of Drage, and diverted it into the net from three yards out.

Hendon continued to press and White, Semakula and Kinali all tried their luck with shots from outside the penalty, but they all missed the target. In the 73rd minute, German took over from Brooks, giving the Greens two target men.

And within two minutes of making his second Hendon debut, German lost his marker and met a cross from Kinali with a powerful header. He was denied a goal by a brilliant save from Williams.

Hartley Wintney made their second change after 80 minutes and Kofi Halliday, who had replaced Harrison Bayley, emulated German by having an immediate impact. The young winger got the better of Nugent and delivered a teasing cross which was met by a goalscoring header from Lucias Vine.

The equaliser dented Hendon’s confidence, but Kinali did have a shot which Williams saved at his near post. Then, in the 86th minute, Hendon had to defend a corner, which they did with spectacular success.

The ball was cleared downfield to German, who controlled the ball as green-shirted players moved forward. German lifted the ball towards Kinali, who headed the ball into space behind the back-tracking defenders.

White had a clear run on goal with only Williams to beat. The goalkeeper came off his line and as he approached WHITE, the striker lifted the ball over him and turned away with joy as it trundled into the net.

There was still time for German to have another chance, again in a one-on-one. This time the goalkeeper was able to get down to make the save, though German’s contact was not as clean as he would have liked.

In stoppage time, the Row forced another corner, from which Drage collided with someone in a clash of heads. The big centre-half was helped from the pitch with one eye swollen and rapidly closing.

Stoppage time was extended because of the injury to Drage, but the Greens were able to hold on and indeed finished the match comfortably holding the ball in the bottom corner. Thankfully, a check-up in hospital revealed no fractures, just severe bruising, but it was an unfortunate end to a disappointing afternoon for Hartley Wintney.