Hendon slipped back into the bottom two of the Ryman League Premier Division as leaders Dover Athletic retained their 23-point advantage over their nearest challengers. The Whites’ 3–0 victory was utterly deserved even though the Greens never gave up and indeed had a number of excellent scoring opportunities.

With James Burgess, Jamie Busby and Glenn Garner all suspended and Casey Maclaren, Mark Kirby and Harry Hunt all injured, Hendon’s options were somewhat limited. Danny Dyer came in at right back, Craig Vargas at left back and Kevin Maclaren was in midfield.

Dover opened brightly and three or four minutes of pressure brought no real alarms. In the fifth minute, Hendon nearly snatched a surprise lead. A corner curled in by Dyer was deflected at the near post and although James Parker did send the ball goalwards, he was at full stretch and could get little power on it, allowing Matt Fish the chance to clear from the goalline.

A slip by William Viner almost gifted Frannie Collin a goal after 15 minutes, but the striker wanted too long before shooting goalwards. He didn’t strike the ball cleanly and the covering Parker was under little pressure as he cleared the danger.

Almost immediately, Sam Collins should have scored for Hendon when he burst clear. Preston Edwards – Dover’s keeper, on loan from Millwall where he earned England Under-19s honour – came off his line, but was beaten by Collins’ shot. It, however, was off target and Dover breathed a sigh of relief.

Gradually, the Whites began to exert some control. They had the ball in the Hendon net, but the assistant referee ruled it had gone out of play before Collin fired past Viner.

From the 31st minute, Dover created and failed to take three opportunities in four minutes. First a drive from Jon Wallis was tipped around the post by Viner. The corner was drilled low to the edge of the penalty area, where Collin struck the ball low and inches wide of the near post.

Finally, Lee Browning outstripped the Hendon defence and had only the tall frame of Viner to beat. He went for the lob and although he cleared the goalkeeper, he could not get the ball to drop under the crossbar.

Three minutes later Dover had the lead. A cross from Browning should have been cleared by Vargas, but he mishit the ball straight to Sammy MOORE who wasted no time in side-footing a first-time effort into the bottom corner. The defender’s misery was clear for all to see.

From the kick-off, Dover went to sleep and Collins missed a great chance to equalise for the Greens. This time, the ball was not well cleared and James Bent’s instinctive leap to block the clearance saw the ball loop off his head and float inches wide of the angle of post and crossbar with Edwards well beaten.

It proved a crucial miss because, in the 41st minute, Collin got free down the right flank, reached the by-line and delivered an inch-perfect teasing cross. Arriving unmarked at the far post was Shaun Welford and his diving header gave Viner no chance.

Much as had been the case in the Staines game eight days earlier, Hendon went from 0–0 to 2–0 down in double-quick time and were effectively out of the contest.

There was little of note to happen in the early part of the second half. Dover were content to sit on their two-goal advantage, while Hendon – who never stopped working and battling - probed for an opening to get back into the match.

Both teams made changes midway through the second half, Hendon’s Sam Byfield being replaced by Lubomir Guentchev and Dave Diedhiou coming on for Maclaren, while Dover introduced Jerahl Hughes and Max Bodkin, at the expense of Welford and Fish.

Hendon’s last chance to get back into the game came in the 76th minute. Guentchev burst clear, but he didn’t have the confidence to take on Edwards and he was eventually stopped by a combination of the goalkeeper and John Keister.

Three minutes later Keister dispossessed Lee O’Leary in midfield and sent a superb pass out to the right wing for Hughes to chase. He reached the ball, cut inside Vargas and sent an inch-perfect cross for COLLIN to run past Marc Leach and slide the ball home. It was both Vargas and Collin’s last contributions to the game as Giuliano Grazioli replaced the goalscorer and Brian Haule took over from Vargas.

Within three minutes Grazioli had the ball in the Hendon net, but the assistant referee had his flag raised for offside. Viner then produced a wonder-save to keep out an effort from Hughes.

As the game moved towards stoppage time, Hendon enjoyed a spell of concerted pressure. The best effort was a drive from the tireless Peter Dean, who had fought a vain battle as essentially a lone striker. His powerful strike was athletically tipped aside by Edwards. Although it would have been no more than a consolation, it would undoubtedly have been well merited.

“I think Dover are the best side I have seen in the division for three or four years,” said Hendon manager Gary McCann. “They were too good for us, but I thought we battled very hard and certainly created a number of good chances.”

(Report By David Ballheimer - Not to be reproduced without the author's permission)