Hendon moved off the foot of the Ryman League Premier Division, and out of the relegation places, with a 2-2 draw against Concord Rangers at Vale Farm on Saturday. Just about the only other piece of good news was the return of Greg Ngoyi and his goal with just about his first touch of the season.

In the starting line-up for the first time in 2012-13 were Scott Cousins and Casey Maclaren, while James Fisher and Dave Diedhiou dropped out because of slight injuries. Joining Ngoyi on the bench was new signing Craige Tomkins and he, like Ngoyi, would have a big bearing on the result.

This was a feisty, fractious and frantic match, especially in the second half and the Greens were distinctly fortunate to survive with a point.

It was the Beachboys who made the brighter start, and both Harry Elmes and Tony Stokes missed the target with opportunities, Elmes's being the clearer one after neat control and turn.

From almost their first attack Hendon took the lead. In the 16th minute, Dean Cracknell played a ball behind the Concord defence and invited Jack Mazzone to chase it.

Concord defenders looked for an offside flag, which was not forthcoming, leaving Mazzone with only goalkeeper Tom Lovelock to beat. Looking up, Mazzone delivered a delicious chip over the stranded goalkeeper, who turned to watch the ball dip under the crossbar and into the side-netting just inside the far post.

The Beachboys were both rattled and frustrated to concede and, in the 21st minute, Nicky Cowley was cautioned for a contretemps with Scott Shulton as the Hendon midfielder tried to take a quick free-kick.

When Shulton and Cowley next crossed paths, the Concord man appeared to make a very late challenge on his opponent. The ball went to Howard Hall, who played it forward to Cousins, before Mazzone put the ball in touch so that Shulton could receive treatment. The referee called Cowley towards him and issued a stern lecture.

Four minutes into the second half, Glozer stopped a Shulton run with a crude challenge which earned him a caution. It was a rare Hendon foray forward as Concord took control.

The pressure told in the 59th minute. Hendon failed to deal with a ball from the left side and when it arrived in the middle, James White was all alone and he wasted no time in smacking it past Mo Maan.

Three minutes later, Jerome Federico and Tomkins replaced Cousins and Bradley Wadkins.

In the 63rd minute, Coyne went on a rampaging run down the right side and, after cutting in, fired a shot towards the near post. Maan dived in vain, but the ball struck the inside of the post, rolled along the face of the goal and went out of play for a goal kick a few yards beyond the far post. It was a let-off from which Hendon didn't learn

Less than a minute after James Elmes had replaced Danny Spendlove, Concord had a throw-in level with their six-yard box. The ball was thrown long down the touchline and was headed out for a second throw-in.

The same thing happened again and, in the space of 15 seconds, Concord had gained 65 yards. When the ball was again thrown down the line, Stokes collected it, ran towards goal and fired a shot past Maan and just inside the far post. It was no more than the Beachboys deserved.

Trying to run out the clock Concord made another substitution, replacing Harry Elmes with Jason Hallett, a more defensive player. But they still forced the pace and won a corner.

It was cleared downfield, where Hendon had a two-on-one with Tomkins in possession and Mazzone to his right. Tomkins could do nothing, however, as Glozier blocked him off and fell to the ground as if pole-axed. The referee was quick to ensure that Tomkins was OK and then showed the prone Glozier a yellow and a red card.

Before play could resume, Harris went off and was replaced by Lee White. A minute later, Ngoyi came on for Maclaren. Hendon's last throw of the dice proved to be an inspired one.

Barely 90 seconds later, the Greens attacked the Concord penalty area and in the scramble which ensued, Cracknell and Mazzone both had efforts blocked. However, the ball rolled across to the unmarked Ngoyi, who steadied himself before slipping it into the net.

Hendon failed to take advantage of the extra man and as the game moved into stoppage time enjoyed two moments of great fortune. First, Stokes watched an effort bounce off the crossbar and a Hendon defender was able to clear it for a corner.

Then, four minutes into added time, Wharton appeared to pull down Stokes as he was about to shoot at goal. The referee blew his whistle and awarded a free-kick to Hendon, as well as showing the Concord man a yellow card for simulation.

Hendon manager Gary McCann didn't hold back in his post-match criticism of his team. He said, "In terms of where we are at, at the moment, we are a million miles away from where I expected to be. I am going to have to reassess and re-evaluate our situation and maybe our ambitions about making the playoffs.

"We were not at the races today in too many areas of the pitch and many of the players are not contributing in the way I expected them too. We have had a lot of injuries, but I hope our key players will be back very soon."