Hendon finished their Ryman League Premier Division season in 16th position after succumbing to two goals in three early second half minutes at home to Carshalton Athletic on Saturday. Although James Burgess did pull a goal back, there were only seconds remaining.

Trying to keep his squad as fresh as possible at the end of the season, manager Gary McCann made a few changes, omitting Sam Collins altogether, and resting - on the bench - Burgess, Glenn Garner, Brian Haule and Mark Kirby. Casey Maclaren came onto the bench.

The sunny week meant that the overnight showers had little effect on the rock-hard pitch and with a strong wind at Hendon's backs in the first half it was not surprising that the Greens enjoyed a territorial advantage. The Robins, however, are a tough team to break down, and Hendon struggled to put efforts on target.

Early on, Kevin Maclaren had to leave the pitch to get a head wound treated. He returned to the fray, his head swathed in a large bandage and wearing a shirt without a number. After the match, the same wound was covered in a piece of gauze barely more than two inches in diameter.

Peter Dean managed a looping header after 12 minutes, but the visitors showed how dangerous they could be on the counterattack as a run and cross=shot from Richard Jolly was almost turned in by Jamie England. Then Charlie Ide fired narrowly wide after Carshalton broke rapidly following a Hendon corner.

In the 33rd minute, Jamie Busby tried his luck from long range. There were a number of players between him and the goal and Richard Stroud's view was somewhat obscured. The goalkeeper, however, pulled off a fine save, diving low to his right to turn aside the ball.

The closest Hendon came to breaking the deadlock was in the 43rd minute, when Lubomir Guentchev made space down the right. He cut inside and fired a powerful low shot which beat Stroud, but not the right post. Although Dean got to rebound before a defender, he needed a touch to control the spinning ball and Adrian Topping got back to block his follow-up shot.

Carshalton settled the match in the first five minutes of the second half. Three minutes after the resumption, the Greens conceded a needless free kick five yards outside their penalty area. Jolly lined up the kick and scored his 31st League goal of the season with a well-placed if not particularly powerful strike.

Two minutes later, the lead was doubled. Hendon lost possession just outside the Robins penalty area and the ball was passed forward to Ide, who worked himself a clear run at goal. William Viner was able to push aside Ide's first effort, but the striker was able to reach the rebound first. Steadying himself, Ide made no mistake with his second attempt.

Thereafter, it was a matter of Hendon desperately looking for a way back into the game, without leaving themselves open to the dangerous counter-attacks which had already proved fruitful for Carshalton. James Bent and Guentchev were sacrificed for Glenn Garner and Brian Haule, but neither could find a way around the excellent Liam Harwood and Lewis Gonsalves.

Simon Cooper had already replaced Dean Carpenter for the Robins, but even replacing a left-back with a right-back didn't seem to inconvenience Carshalton unduly. Danny Dyer did get forward a bit more, but he was still unable to make too much of an impact. On the opposite flank Craig Vargas was similarly held in check.

Harry Hunt came close to pulling back a goal in the 57th minute, but his flick went past Stroud and the far post. James Burgess came on for the final 15 minutes, at the same time as Carshalton withdrew Jolly and Barry Stevens.

The Robins' band of noisy and cheerful fans were already celebrating their playoff when Hendon finally pulled a goal back. The match had already moved into stoppage time when the Greens won a corner.

The ball came into the penalty area where Mark Leach and James Parker both went for it. A defender did just enough to divert it away from them, but Burgess was on hand to lift the ball into the roof of the net from maybe a yard out. The loyal club servant has now scored two goals in his 263-game Hendon career, both this season, and both from about a yard out.

There was time to restart, but the ball had travelled barely 20 metres when the referee, who will probably not enjoy as easy an afternoon in the middle for a long while, brought proceedings to an end.

"Two lapses in concentration cost us dearly," said manager Mr McCann. "They are a very hard team to break down, but our main aim was to get through this match without injuries so we can name a full-strength team for the London Cup Final on Wednesday, and that we achieved."

(Report by David Ballheimer - not to be reproduced without permission from the author)