Hendon ensured that the tenure of new Carshalton manager Hayden Bird would start with a loss as the Ryman League Premier Division leaders made it seven wins from ten league starts, claiming a 2-0 victory at the War Memorial Ground, Colston Avenue. The match saw nine bookings and very little good football.

Daniel Dyer and Belal Aiteouakrim came into the side at the expense of Rakatahr Hudson and Dean Green, who joined a trio of young Bulgarians, Iavor and Lubo Guentchev and new signing Ivalio Dmitrov – a former Hendon under-13s star who was released by Brentford after four years with the Griffin Park club.

The Greens had the advantage of the slope in the first half, but didn't really use it to good effect, though Aiteouakrim and Dyer both forced saves out Aaron Howe in the early going.

Wayne O'Sullivan, however, had a good chance when clean through on goal. He beat the goalkeeper with his shot but the ball went into the side-netting.

At the other end, former Hendon loanee Phil Ruggles put a header wide and shot over the bar. The main danger, however came from Michael Johnson on the right side and Craig Dundas, though Marc Leach and James Parker made some timely interventions too.

In the 42nd minute, O'Sullivan again went around Simon Cooper, who stopped this run illegally. O'Sullivan took perfect revenge curling in a free-kick which Parker met with a perfectly-placed looping header, the ball ending up just inside the angle of post and crossbar.

Just before the break, Ruggles set up Dundas, whose shot was brilliantly saved by Richard Wilmot.

Kicking downhill in the second half is always how Carshalton prefer affairs and they had this advantage. However, their inability to score goals at home came back to haunt them - apart from a four-goal beating of Division One South Corinthian Casuals in midweek, the Robins have yet to hit the target at Colston Avenue this season - and Ruggles was guilty of a number of misses.

Luke Fontana, a thorn in Hendon's side at Walton, Hampton and Carshalton in the past, had come on at half-time for MacLeod, but he was in a wide position rather than a direct partner for Ruggles. Although he had some joy against Vargas, delivering a number of telling crosses, he wasn't on the end of them to cause more damage.

Wilmot was by far the busier goalkeeper, but little of his work could be described as anything but routine. He did make one excellent stop from a Johnson shot, but it was at a comfortable height.

With two minutes of normal time remaining, Hendon made the game safe. Hudson fed Green - the replacement for Dyer - and he passed to Brian Haule. Showing remarkably deft footwork Haule went one way, then the other, before firing a powerful drive past a wrong-footed Howe.

"We didn't play particularly well today," said manager Gary McCann, "but it is a sign of a good team that we can play badly and still win. The only player was on top of his game today was big Richard Wilmot."

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