A combination of defensive frailty and poor luck consigned Hendon to another empty-handed afternoon as the visitors left the art deco magnificence of the Queen Elizabeth II stadium rueing an unfortunate defeat at the hands of Enfield Town. Games involving Hendon have been nothing if not entertaining in recent weeks, but the travelling side must surely be incredibly disappointed to have left Enfield without a point after an injury time penalty cruelly gave the home side a victory in a five-goal thriller.

On an afternoon that would have delighted sticklebacks and narwhales in terms of moistness, Hendon did themselves no favours from the outset, with what is becoming worryingly typical absentminded defending allowing the hosts an almost immediate advantage. An innocuous ball into the Hendon box eluded the defence, enabling Wallace to slot home with alarming comfort.

Hendon were keen to narrow the deficit, pressuring Enfield with a series of robust attacks, with Jefferson Louis seeing a shot deflected wide soon after Enfield's opener and a close effort from a Hendon header being ruled out for offside shortly thereafter. The tenth minute saw the Enfield keeper called into action, tipping over a long-range shot to concede a corner, minutes before the referee saw fit to brandish his first card of the afternoon, penalising Dave Diedhiou for completing a tackle with his studs showing.

A sustained period of Hendon pressure followed, with several corners and attacks raising the spirits of the travelling faithful. Another Louis shot was comfortably saved by the Enfield custodian; Junior Morias went close after a mazy run that saw him beat virtually the entire Enfield team; and the same player caused panic when his cross was headed over by an Enfield defender to concede a corner. The said corner was lofted in, and rampant goal machine Diedhiou headed in to level for Hendon.

The visitors felt they should have a penalty soon after, a free kick appearing to strike the hand of a defender in the wall, but the referee was having none of the resultant appeals. Hendon blasted another free kick over the bar as halftime approached, the last meaningful action of the half seeing Enfield striker Liam Hope picking up a yellow card for wrestling a Hendon defender to the floor.

Heartened by their team's impressive first-half performance and the world-leading curry/burger catering offer at Enfield, Hendon's supporters were almost immediately downcast as the second half saw Enfield regain their lead. Livewire Hope coolly curled a free kick into the top corner past a despairing Horlock, leaving Hendon with an uphill challenge for the rest of the half.

The second half descended into a scrappy phase of play, before Diedhiou, penetrating the Enfield defence from a corner like a striking cobra, headed the Greens level for the second time. Several bookings followed as the game became increasingly disjointed, before Gary McCann attempted to rejuvenate Hendon's efforts with the introduction of Kevin MacLaren and Isaiah Rankin.

As the game looked to be heading for an equitable draw, both teams showed signs of snatching the points. After Hendon defender Fisher cheaply gave the ball away, Enfield saw the resultant attempt on goal comfortably saved, before Hendon thought they had claimed all three points, Diedhiou smashing home yet another header. This time, his claims for a hat-trick and a Hendon victory were denied by the offside flag.

As the final whistle loomed, an Enfield attack was abruptly ended by a trip in the penalty box by Tony Taggart that was spotted by a linesman. The referee concurred and a spot kick was awarded, Liam Hope taking full advantage of the last-minute opportunity to grasp victory by confidently stroking the ball home. His churlish celebrations, however, earned him a second yellow and a bittersweet departure from the field of play.

While Hendon can be encouraged by their overall performance, they will surely be looking to be more defensively vigilant in their next few games as they look to rediscover some winning form to get their Ryman League campaign back on track.