Hayes will consider this as another two points dropped as opposed to a point gained as a late Kieran Knight strike saved the Missioners from defeat against Farnborough at Church Road this afternoon.

Manager Kevin Hill made a couple of changes to the side beaten in Wales on Monday, Joe Sparrowhawk replaced Marvin Bartley and Damon Ming was given his first start in place of Liam Feeney.

In fact it was Bermudian international Ming who first brought the game to life, Mark Nicholls sent him away down the left where he outpaced Liam Pestle before his shot from a tight angle was blocked away by the legs of keeper Kevin Scriven. The visitors then had a penalty appeal firmly rejected by referee Mr Barnes before another chance came the Missioners way, Sparrowhawk neatly chipped through the Boro defence to daniel Dyer only for Scriven to be quick off his line to block the midfielders effort at close range.

The home side continued to push for an opener, Daniel Dyer had another shot saved by Scriven before a neat interchange between Ming and Nicholls saw the ball being chested to Ryan Ashe who shot over from the edge of the box. On the half hour mark Kevin Davies had to be alert when a Richard Hodgson free-kick curled around the wall and through a mass of bodies in the six yard box, the stopper doing well to hold on.

Farnborough continued to press as the half drew to a close, Steve Laidler saw a drive from 20 yards deflected wide for a corner and Matt Pattison really tested Davies from a free-kick, forcing a fine full stretch save from the Hayes keeper.

Apart from a 12 minute spell in the second half that saw two goals and several chances go begging the rest of the period could have been cancelled and nobody would really have noticed !

The only "almost" chance in the first 25 minutes of the half had seen Laidler race unchallenged across the Hayes area only to fail by inches to connect with a corner.

However on 70 minutes a goal finally came but it was not good news for the Missioners. Ashe needlessly conceded a free-kick on the right which was then planted into the area by Pattison, Davies decided he would attempt to catch the ball amongst a gaggle of players, failed to hold on and when it was knocked back into the centre, defender Jamie Whisken had the easiest of finishes into an unguarded net.

Within a minute Davies had to save from Hodgson after Paul Harkness's shot fell perfectly to his teammate, before Jon Dyer had two good chances to pull it level, firstly he rose to a Ming cross but headed wide of the target closely followed by more trickery from Ming that saw his deep cross played back to the near post by Daniel Dyer only for namesake Jon to fire wide when well placed.

Chances continued to come for the Missioners, more often than not via the runs of Ming on the left, this time the winger sent full-back Gilbert Nuako towards the byeline, his cross was again met by Jon Dyer but the young striker could only head into Scrivens grateful arms.

The game then seemed to turn on a miss at one end and an inspired substitution at the other, Michael Charles broke down the right flank before cutting the ball perfectly into the path of Pattison who blasted over Davies' goal from 12 yards. Hayes were soon on the attack again with both substitutes Kieran Knight and Michael Bartley on the field looking for an equaliser. With eight minutes remaining, a free-kick on the edge of the Boro box was neatly played into the centre by Nicholls, Peter Collins' header was saved on the line by Scriven with the ball running loose to Knight who managed to force it home from close range.

The final chance of the game again came the way of the Missioners but sadly the win still eludes as Nuako and Ming combined down the left with the Bermudians shot from 20 yards being safely dealt with by Scriven.

Report by Kevin Watts. Photos by Ray Peploe.