Hendon 1 Wealdstone 2

Ryman League Premier Division

In the end, it all came down to the maths.

Sadly, in a game that is about passion, artistry, chilly Saturday afternoons and drizzly weekday evenings, it so often does.

Results elsewhere left Hendon needing a win today if they were to reach the play-offs. But it was not to be as their young guns sank to defeat in a niggly game that they were, perhaps, unfortunate to lose.

However, with a pre-season target of avoiding the drop, Hendon have reason to be proud for giving themselves the chance to dream of the dizzying heights that they fell just short of reaching.

They approached the task of securing their place in the play-offs under bright blue skies at Claremont Road this afternoon.

The warmth of the morning had tempered with a cool breeze but, weather aside, it was not the most pleasant of occasions.

When so much rides on one match, entertainment tends to take a back seat and it duly obliged as Hendon and Wealdstone fought out a scrappy first half.

Both sides had enough chances to win and there could have been goals-galore but for some decidedly wayward finishing. Those chances did, though, mainly come courtesy of defensive lapses in a game that was tight and nervy.

In the end, Wealdstone would triumph thanks to a penalty that probably should not have been and a goal that emphatically was.

Even the most hardened of Greens will admit that Nick Salapatas's second-half volley from just inside the box was a goal worthy of winning any game.

Hendon started the better of the two teams but were caught offside several times by Wealdstone's high line as they attempted to settle into the game. Both teams played fairly high up the park, squeezing the play into the middle third and supressing any vestiges of creativity.

Danny Dyer found himself at right-back and he, along with Lubomir Guentchev, was Hendon's principle attacking outlets in the early stages, finding slightly more joy on the flanks than their stifled counterparts in the middle.

Guentchev looked bright and imaginative in the inside-left channel and he crafted a decent chance when he found space and looped in a cross that fell behind the retreating Wealdstone defenders. But Belal Aiteouakrim's half volley was blocked.

Wealdstone were largely restricted to the counter attack but were usually let down by the final ball. Some clever play in the box, however, did not augur well for Hendon, with striker Peter Dean and his shock of bright-blonde hair usually at the heart of all things good.

In the early stages an opening goal seemed a distant prospect, perhaps more so on the half-hour mark when Davis Haule pulled-up with what looked like a hamstring injury.

He was replaced by the gangly Brian Haule, who quickly made his mark, holding up the ball well and having a decent shout for a penalty turned down when he collided with a defender in the box.

Five minutes before the break, Jack Page made Hendon's best chance from nothing. He hit a shot from 30 yards, which was deflected off a defender and he picked it up for a second shot that was deflected just wide.

At the other end his opposite number, Graeme Montgomery, tried a chip, the audacity of which was not matched by his ability and it looped well wide.

It seemed as if the hero of the day for Hendon would-be goalkeeper Richard Wilmott, who made three outstanding saves to keep his team in the game.

The first, just before the break, came when he parried a long shot and had to leap at the feet of an oncoming attacker to prevent a certain goal.

Then, in the second half, what looked like a terrible shot from six yards out looped down and nearly caught him off the line, before he scrambled back and scraped it out.

Five minutes later he put his body on the line again in another goal-saving one-on-one.

Then came the penalty. As they waited for a free kick to come in from forty yards out, Jack Page tustled with Peter Dean in the same way that players do for every corner.

Unfortunately for Page and Hendon, Dean conspired to wrestle himself to the ground and the very dubious penalty was given. Dean Papali cooly dispatched it to the bottom right of the keeper.

It was now backs-to-the-wall for Hendon, and Guentchev was left cursing himself even more when he missed from six yards out.

When Hendon got the ball down and started playing their approach work improved and led to a clutch of chances. But it was not sustained under the pressure of the occasion.

Then a well-worked move from Wealdstone resulted in penalty-man Papalas crossing from the right. It missed everyone and skipped out to Salapatas, who ghosted into the box and hammered his half-volley into the bottom right corner.

Wealdstone's fans were sent into raptures and dreams of the play-offs seemed a distant memory.

Five minutes from the close Aiteouakrim scored a consolation goal when a low cross curled into the box, leaving Wealdstone's back line flat footed. It escaped the attention of everyone but Aiteouakrim and he seemed surprise to have so much time.

He nicked the ball past the keeper and tucked it home from a tight angle.

Hendon manager Gary McCann exhorted his troops to a final push of the season, but it came to nothing. But, at least, the Greens live to fight another season.

Team: Wilmott; Dyer, Leach, S Page, Burgess; Hudson (Hudell), J Page, Busby (I Guentchev), L Guentchev; D Haule (B Haule 35), Aieteouakrim

Best Green: Wilmott