Maidstone were minutes away from regaining top spot in the Ryman League Premier Division on Saturday.

With Margate dropping points at home to Peacehaven, Stones needed to beat Hendon to take over in pole position but the visitors equalised with a 90th-minute goal to silence nearly 2,000 fans at The Gallagher Stadium.

Maidstone, still reeling from the news that Alex Flisher will miss the rest of the season, survived an early scare when a corner was only half-cleared and Charlie Goode saw his effort come back off the bar.

Jack Parkinson shot straight at keeper Ben McNamara and Frannie Collin fired wide as the first half finished goalless.

After the break, Stones improved and Matt Bodkin was denied early on after good work by Ben Greenhalgh. The deadlock was broken on 52 minutes when Bodkin’s cross was turned in by Collin with an excellent header for his 17th goal of the season.

Greenhalgh then wasted a fine chance to double the lead before Bodkin fired over as Stones piled on the pressure.

It looked as though Stones would hold on but Hendon had other ideas and a Tony Taggart corner was headed in by Elliot Braithwaite to deny Jay Saunders’ men maximum points.