Hendon's good pre-season form continued with a 4-1 win at Windsor & Eton on a warm Saturday afternoon. The first half was rather disjointed, but as the second half went on, the Greens showed their class as they took the game away from the Royals.

In the Windsor starting line-up were three ex-Hendon players in the form of Mark Burgess, Steve Butler and Byron Bubb, whilst Mark Cooper was a second-half substitute. Former Hendon manager was in the Windsor dug out, as he is now assistant to Windsor manager Simon Lane.

Hendon's first chance came in the 11th minute when both Ben Hudell and Davis Haule made good runs into the box with the ball but couldn't quite find the target. Belal Aiteouakrim and Wayne O'Sullivan had chances that flew narrowly wide shortly afterwards.

In the 40th minute Windsor & Eton had a great chance to take the lead, but Luke Blackmore pulled off a great save and quickly released the ball upfield. Aiteouakrim was challenged by Mark Burgess but the ball ran to Dean Green who slammed the ball into the net.

However, the lead lasted a matter of seconds as the Greens switched off at the restart, and Windsor broke through the Hendon defence to equalise, leaving Blackmore no chance.

Early in the second half, Windsor had a chance to take the lead, but Butler was only able to fire over the bar, and in the 54th minute Bubb fired in a fine free-kick which Blackmore did well to save.

However, Hendon then took the game by the scruff of the neck, and in the 62nd minute Hudell received the ball from Aiteouakrim and fired a fierce shot across the goal into the far corner to regain the lead for the Greens.

Rakatahr Hudson controlled the ball beautifully in the 70th minute but his shot went narrowly over the bar, and seven minutes later Marc Leach was unfortunate not to score when he shot over as the ball rebounded in a crowded penalty area.

In the 86th minute, Hendon extended their lead when they were awarded a free-kick 20 yards from goal. Hudell stepped up and curled the ball into the corner of the net, leaving the Windsor keeper no chance. Gary McCann then made four substitutions and within seconds it was 4-1 as Daragh Duffy finished off a fine move involving Brian Haule and Emond Protain to score with his first touch of the afternoon and complete the scoring.

(Report by Steve Rogers - not to be reproduced in any form without the author's agreement)