Hendon Reserves ended their season in disappointing fashion with a pair of away defeats in 3 days, against champions Hayes on Monday night and at mid-table Corinthian-Casuals on Thursday. Hayes put out quite a strong team at Church Road and they were far too strong for Hendon team strengthened by the inclusion of Mark Burgess, but lacking a cutting edge up front. The 3 goals Hayes scored were rather fortuitous, a deflection, a dubious offside and a bad bounce to the scorer, contributing. However, Hendon manager Alan Rolnick admitted that the Missioners had been far the better team and deserved their victory.

On Thursday night, Hendon went a goal down midway the first half at Hook Rise. Hendon got back on level terms with a penalty, converted by Duncan Hamilton, 5 minutes into the second half. Thereafter, the Greens wasted a bunch of chances and were made to pay, in the 80th, minute when a defensive error gifted a goal - and the 3 points - to the Casuals. Most importantly for Hendon, despite 7 defeats in 8 matches, the victory over Sutton a week ago had ensured that Hendon avoided relegation from the Suburban League Premier Division. "Thursday night was the last third of the season in microcosm," said manager Mr Rolnick. "We have played very well, failed to take a number of chances and lost to goal from a defensive error. Next season, I hope we can get a striker who is going to be able to convert the chances we create."

On Saturday, Gil GOMES put Hendon ahead in the 5th minute and Darius ALAMOUTI doubled the advantage after 20 minutes. Ross CABLE made it 3-0 before half-time, but Sutton reduced the arrears 5 minutes into the second half, although there was a strong hint of offside about it. There was little chance that Sutton would get back into the game and the 3-goal margin was restored midway through the period when Adil SALIH was brought down in the penalty area and Duncan HAMILTON converted the spot-kick. With just under 10 mintues to go, Pat SAPPLETON came up for a corner and buried a powerful header in the corner of the net. "After the disappointment of Wednesday night, we put things right today," said manager Alan Rolnick. "What was very pleasing was that Iain Duncan played a full 90 minutes today and he looked very good."

The match on Wednesday night at Harrow Borough was a huge disappointment. Missing both strikers, Darren Raymond and Sebastien Ngoyi, Hendon lacked punch up front and their replacemences Darius Alamouti and Ross Cable had nights to forget. Despite dominating the opening 25 minutes, Hendon could not score. Having a path through the experienced Northolt Saints defence without making a breakthrough, Hendon changed tactics and these were even less successful. The two goals came in the second half, from a 63rd minute free-kick and a 79th minute penalty.

On Saturday, the League losing streak reached 5 games when a 3rd minute goal from Maidenhead was enough to take victory at York Road. "We need to pick up 1 win in our last 3 games to avoid relegation," admitted manager Alan Rolnick. "I am sure we will get it and, in any case, the teams at the bottom have to win all their games to overtake us, if we don't get a win. We played so much better on Saturday and dominated the game. Unfortunately we just could not score."

On Wednesday night at Oxford City, despite goals from Darren RAYMOND, before half time, and Duncan HAMILTON, 10 minutes into the second half, Hendon conceded 3 goals in 15 minutes to suffer a 4th straight 3-2 League defeat.

Hendon Reserves suffered a third consecutive 3-2 home defeat to drop below halfway down the Suburban League Premier Division table. Darren RAYMOND gave Hendon the lead after 25 minutes, but a defensive error on the stroke of half-time gifted the league leaders an equaliser. Two goals in 10 minutes just before the midway point of the second half put Hayes in control. After taking the game to Hayes for about 20 minutes, Hendon finally reduced the arrears when Duncan HAMILTON floated a free-kick into the net for a second goal, but it was too little too late. "It's no good being able to play good football if there is no end reward. We have got to take our chances, while also cutting out our defensive errors," raged manager Alan Rolnick after the game.

Hendon Reserves pushed the self-destruct button against the Metropolitan Police second string at LOOT Stadium on Saturday. After Rhodri HARVEY - back after a long spell on the sidelines - had given Hendon a first-half lead, a bad defensive error allowed the Police to equalise soon after the break. Sebastien NGOYI restored Hendon's advantage after 55 minutes, following some excellent work from Ross Cable - who was described by manager Alan Rolnick as "a real prospect" - but parity was restored 10 minutes later. With about 20 minutes to go the Police took the lead and although Hendon battled hard to get back into the game, playing some superb football, the equaliser just would not come. One piece of good news to come out of the game was that wing-back Iain Duncan played for 45 minutes, his first action since injuring his knee on Easter Monday 2001.

Hendon Reserves joined the first team in reaching the Final of the Middlesex County Cup - this time the Premier Cup competition - with a 3-1 defeat of Bedfont Reserves at The Orchard on Tuesday night. The scorers were Sebastien NGOYI with 2 and Adil SALIH. The Final will be played at Harrow Borough's Earlsmead ground on Wednesday 17 April against Northolt Saints.

Hendon Reserves were left fuming at a 3-2 home defeat caused almost entirely by a refereeing decision that turned the match. With the game level at 1-1, Ross CABLE having opened the scoring after 25 minutes, Hendon goalkeeper Gregg Bryan came off his line to deal with a through ball. He clearly took the ball before the Whyteleafe forward reached it, but the assistant referee thought it was a penalty. Adding insult to insult, Bryan was dismissed and Duncan Hamilton took over in goal. He almost saved the spot-kick, but was then beaten for a second time as Whyteleafe found themselves comprehensively outplayed and still ahead 3-1. It took 30-odd minutes of incessant pressure in the second half for Hendon to finally reduce the arrears, CABLE scoring his second of the match, but the equaliser just would not come.

Hendon Reserves deservedly booked their place in the semi-final of the Middlesex Premier Cup with a come-from-behind victory over Hillingdon Borough at Breakspear Road on Tuesday night. Hillingdon had the better of the quarter-final replay in the first half, but they only broke the deadlock in the last minute of the period. Hendon turned things around after the break and it was only a matter of time before they equalised. It came from Darren RAYMOND in the 68th minute and RAYMOND scored Hendon's winner with just over 10 minutes to go. As Hillingdon tired, Hendon dominated but they could not get an insurance goal. Manager Alan Rolnick said "We did well in the second half and took advantage of Hillingdon as they tired on a very big and boggy pitch." In the semi-final, Hendon will face Bedfont Reserves, with Northolt Saints awaiting in the Final

Hendon Reserves backed up their defeat of Dulwich a week earlier by outplaying Suburban League Premier Division leaders Basingstoke Town at LOOT Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Sadly the conditions were the true winners as the game ended goalless. With a little bit of luck Hendon could have run out winners by a handful of goals but the chances were not taken. One player who caught the eye was goalkeeper Greg Bryan, who had a sound debut in place of flu-stricken Gary McCann. "We should have won today, but it was another good performance," said manager Alan Rolnick.

Hendon Reserves produced another fine performance to beat Dulwich Hamlet 2-0 at Champion Hill on Saturday afternoon. Just as he had done in the reverse fixture at LOOT Stadium, manager Alan Rolnick changed Hendon's formation to counter Dulwich's style and the move worked a treat again. This time the wing-backs Lee Jarvis and Adil Salih were wing-backs and they had outstanding games. After half an hour, Darren Raymond crossed long and Salih controlled the ball ball, before rolling it into the path of Ross CABLE, who scored his first goal for the club. In the second half, Tyrone Samuels, Pat Sappleton and Duncan Hamilton were superb at the heart of defence, with Gary McCann in excellent form between the posts. The decisive goal came following a corner in the 84th minute. In the scramble Ewen IRONSIDE got the decisive touch to make it 2-0. "We have lost twice to Walton & Hersham and Marlow," admitted Mr Rolnick, "and neither are as good as Dulwich, who we have beaten twice. We played so well today."

Hendon Reserves had a bad day at the office on Saturday afternoon when they played Walton & Hersham's second string at LOOT Stadium in the Suburban League Premier Divsion. The first half was goalless, but after the break Walton scored twice without reply to take the 3 points. Hendon Reserves remain in mid-table with two-thirds of the season completed.

Hendon Reserves had to withstand some pretty desperate play from the Metropolitan Police's second string to come away from Imber Court with a 3-0 victory on Saturday. All the goals came in the opening 35 minutes, but the test of discipline came in the second half. After 17 minutes, a cross from Adil Salih picked out Sebastien NGOYI, who swivelled and shot into the net to give Hendon the lead. Six minutes later, Duncan Hamilton crossed for Darius ALAMOUTI to double Hendon's advantage. In the 35th minute, another cross caused panic in the Police ranks and a defender headed the ball past his goalkeeper for an own goal. In the second half, the Police tackling - hard in the first half - went too far and they had 3 players dismissed in a stormy final 15 minutes. Hendon were not exempt from disciplinary problems and Mark Shirley was red-carded for 2 cautions, the first of which came for complaining to the referee that he had been fouled and second for a foul, although it appeared he won the ball cleanly. "I am pleased with the way we played in the first half," said manager Alan Rolnick.

Hendon Reserves failed to overcome their rustiness - they have played just once in 2 months - when they went down to a 2-1 defeat at Marlow on Saturday. The conditions were very difficult, and Marlow benefited from the deterioration in the weather when it was at their backs in the second half. Injuries, absentees on first-team duty and departures left manager Alan Rolnick with a squad was lacking in experience and it was one of his 4 debutants who gave Hendon the lead in the 25th minute. A cross from Mark Shirley was turned into the net by Sebastien NGOYI, a Belgian who has been training at the club in recent weeks. Just before half-time a goalmouth scramble resulted in Marlow's equaliser. Midway through the second half, a free-kick from 25 yards slipped through Andy Angir's grasp and rolled into the net for Marlow's winner.

Hendon Reserves, without a game since early December, showed plenty of ring-rust in struggling to a 1-1 draw with Hillingdon Borough at Breakspeare Road on Tuesday night. The match was switched by Hendon to Hillingdon's ground because LOOT Stadium was being used for first team games. A goal down in the first half, Hendon finally got an equaliser through Nathan EDWARDS in the second half. Having made 3 substitutions, Hendon were then hit with the loss of Richard Dee through injury, so the team had to play the last 45 minutes (including extra-time) with just 10 men. On a positive note, central defender René Street played 45 minutes and came through apparently unscathed after spending 10 weeks out with a groin injury.

Hendon Reserves won a battle of attrition against British Airway in the Middlesex Premier Cup on Saturday afternoon. Such was the nature of the game that Hendon finished the first half with 10 men as manager Alan Rolnick waited till the interval to find out which of a number of players was most in need of replacement. The only goal of a tough encounter came from Hendon's Darren RAYMOND midway through the second half.

Hendon Reserves were a little unfortunate to lose this Suburban League Premier Division fixture at the Camrose on Saturday, the final score being no reflection on the closeness of the contest. A goal down early on, Hendon were quick to fight back, but the equaliser proved elusive. It should have arrived after 65 minutes, when they were awarded a penalty, but James Burgess emulated his brother Mark by missing his spot kick. With 10 minutes Basingstoke, against the run of play, scored No. 2 and got a 3rd within 5 minutes. "We played really well today," said manager Alan Rolnick. "We didn't take our chances and they made us pay."

Hendon Reserves recorded a fine 4-1 victory over Thame United at LOOT Stadium on Saturday lunchtime. It took a while for the breakthrough to arrive, but it came in the 40th minute. A ball out of midfield found Darren RAYMOND in space and his shot found the net. In the second half, Hendon stepped up a number of gears and left Thame floundering. In the 55th minute RAYMOND bagged his second, Darius ALAMOUTI scored No. 3 in the 68th minute and Mark BURGESS added a fourth in the the 85th minute. Thame's consolation came with almost the last kick of the match. A brilliant run from Leon Maloney should have earned Raymond a bottle of champagne, promised by coach Tony Emmanuel for a hat-trick scorer. Clear on goal, Raymond's bubbly went west thanks to an inspired save from the Thame goalkeeper. From the bench, Emmanuel was heard to shout, "Next time go all the way yourself Leon!"

Hendon Reserves reached the second round of the Middlesex Premier Cup with an ultimately comfortable 4-2 away defeat of Southall on Saturday. On a very difficult surface, Hendon were always in control and took the lead after 20 minutes when Ike OBIJI scored. In the 31st minute, Hendon were awarded a free-kick just outside the penalty area. As Southall argued about setting up a wall, the referee let the kick be taken quickly and James BURGESS did little more than pass the ball into the net. Four minutes before half-time a cross from Duncan Hamilton was headed home by Leon MOLONEY.

Hendon eased off in the second half and conceded goals after 60 and 69 minutes to make it 3-2. But, 7 minutes, later, John McKinney produced a brilliant tackle to stop a Southall forward and immediately laid off a perfect 30-yard pass down field. It was taken on by substitute Darren Raymond, who scooted past a defender and drove in a powerful cross which MOLONEY headed home in spectacular fashion. "I didnt't think we were in anny trouble, even at 3-2," said manager Alan Rolnick after the game. "Our fourth goal was one of the best of the season."

Hendon Reserves went out of the Suburban League Cup on Saturday after producing a very disappointing performance at Colston Avenue. Watched by former Hendon first-team boss Frank Murphy and his assistants Curtis Warmington and JJ Johnson (the Robins' first-team game at Ford was called off), Alan Rolnick's could not get started. The only goal arrived after half an hour. A whole host of chances were missed, but Hendon still had a fantastic opportunity to at least force extra time when, in stoppage time, they were awarded a penalty. Mark Burgess's strike was tipped over the bar by the goalkeeper and that was that. One bright note was the performance of Pat SAPPLETON at the heart of the Hendon defence. "We were awful today," moaned Mr Rolnick. "We had been playing very well for the past few weeks, but today we didn't do it."

Hendon Reserves produced a superb performance against title challengers Dulwich Hamlet at LOOT Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Burgess twins, Mark and James, played wide in midfield, outside Lee O'Donnell and Pitshou Ngopwami, and caused Hamlet no end of problems. However, the Greens had only one goal to show for their first-half domination, a 25th-minute strike from O'DONNELL after a corner had been cleared only as far as the edge of the penalty area. In the second half, Darius ALAMOUTI became tormentor-in-chief, having a hand in all 3 goals.In the 68th minute, he passed to Steve BENITEZ, a 63rd-minute replacement for Ngopwami, the substitue making it 2-0.

Ten minutes, Alamouti burst past the last defender and was pulled down in the penalty. The Dulwich player, himself a substitute, was sent off and Mark BURGESS despatched the penalty without fuss. With 7 minutes to go, Alamouti sent a fantastic cross into the path of Mark BURGESS, who bagged his second of the game. At the stage, Hendon made a couple of substitutions and Dulwich took advantage to score a late consolation. "There was no way we were going to lose today," said happy manager Alan Rolnick. "We were fantastic, but we still have room to improve."

Hendon Reserves rebounded from conceding an early goal to record a comfortable 3-1 victory over Northwood at Chestnut Avenue on Saturday. It took until just before half-time for Hendon to draw level, Darius ALAMOUTI scoring. In the second half, Hendon were right on top, but it took 25 mintues for the Greens to take the lead. However, once Mark BURGESS had made it 2-1 there was only going to be one winner. Leon Moloney and Pitshou Ngopwami came on as substitutes and the pair combined for Hendon's third goal, MOLONEY converting a cross from Ngopwami. "We did really well," said manager Alan Rolnick. "That makes it three wins in a row and we are now 7th in the table."

On Saturday, the Hendon Reserve team was in fact a first XI as boss Dave Anderson decided to give his idle first-choice players a run-out instead of a training session. That being said, only 4 of the starters from the previous Saturday's FA Cup tie at Southend Manor made the starting line-up. The first half was very poor as Hendon rarely got out of first gear. Simon Clarke and Chris Sparks played at the centre of defence and they were quite busy before the break, but goalkeeper Gary McCann was rarely troubled. The only save he had to make was from a long-range shot and that went straight at him. In the second half, Hendon upped the pace and Berkhamsted couldn't live with it. Neverthless, it took until the 71st minute for the breakthrough to arrive.

Marvyn Watson did well down the right wing and fed Ross Pickett, who danced past two defenders before drawing the goalkeeper towards him. His slide-rule pass across the face of goal was met by substitute Eugene OFORI, who had the simplest of tap-ins. Five minutes from time, OFORI showed his leaping ability by jumping high in front of the goalkeeper and he headed home Lee O'Donnell's corner with the 'keeper getting close to the ball. Debutant Byron Bubb, who had played a couple of trial matches for Reserve manager Alan Rolnick when he was an Under-14s player, had an excellent game. The 19-year-old made 8 Nationwide League appearances for Millwall between 1998 and 2001.

Hendon Reserves bounced back to form with a pair of victories inside 67 hours last week. On Wednesday night, they produced an excellent performance to beat Thame United at the Windmill. The Greens took the lead after 20 minutes through Darius ALAMOUTI, and were very good value for their advantage. However, on the stroke of half-time, Thame snatched an equaliser to turn around on level terms. In the second half, Hendon again held the upper hand and this was turned into tangible reward when Phil RUGGLES netted what rutned out to be the winner after 65 minutes.

On Saturday, manager Alan Rolnick felt as bad as he ever has after a match he should have won easily slipped away. Five times, Hendon players had one-on-ones and each time they failed to hit the target and in the second half Maidenhead made them pay. A goal down after 55 minutes, Hendon did manage to equalise through Darren RAYMOND with 20 minutes to go. Within a minute, another desperate defensive error handed Maidenhead the advantage again. When Richard Dee limped off with 10 minutes to go, the Magpies took advantage and scored twice more. "It takes a lot to make me depressed," admitted Mr Rolnick, "after all, it is only a football game. But I was devastated after this defeat."

Kingstonian reserve team on Wednesday night was possibly even stronger than they had been on Tuesday and although Hendon's second string contained 8 players with first-team experience, Gary McCann, Pat Sappleton, Richard Dee, Paul Johnson, Mark Burgess, Dave Stewart, Ross Pickett and Ike Obiji, they were no match for the Ks. Mark BURGESS and PICKETT scored Hendon's goals, but the Surrey club's squad contained 8 players who were Nationwide Conference regulars in the last 12 months and they ran in 7 goals.

Hendon Reserves took a while to get going against Leighton Town in Saturday's Suburban League Cup tie but, once they found their scoring touch, they blew their opponents away. Gary McCann in the second game of his comeback from offseason surgery found himself picking the ball out of the net twice inside the opening 12 minutes as the Hendon central defence made two awful blunders.

Darren RAYMOND collected a through ball from Leon Maloney to reduce the arrears after 20 minutes and, 5 minutes later, RAYMOND got Hendon's equaliser with a pile-driver of a shot. Ten minutes before half-time, MALONEY, who was on trial with Hendon during the 2000-01 preseason, put Hendon in front with a shot from 17 yards. John McKinney replaced Ewan Ironside for the second half (with debutant Mark Shirley - formerly at Wimbledon - moving to left back to accommodate McKinney) to add stability at the back, but it took 10 minutes for Hendon extend their lead, RAYMOND completing his hat-trick. Next to score was Pitshou NGOPWANI, who converted a cross from Paul Johnson.

Two more substitutions followed, with Ngopwani and Maloney being replaced by Jaymie Kelly and Ike Obiji respectively. With James Burgess and Dave Stewart dominating in midfield, Hendon were completely on top. RAYMOND ran the Leighton defence ragged and his scored his next goal after 65 minutes. In the 70th minute RAYMOND made it 7-2 with his 5th of the afternoon, before OBIJI got in on the act in the 75th minute. With 8 minutes to go, OBIJI bagged his second.

Gary McCann continued his rehabilitation following his knee surgery by making his first competitive appearance of the season for Hendon's reserve team on Tuesday night. Hendon took the lead in the 10th minute through Darren Raymond, but were pulled back within two minutes by their opponents. Marlow took the lead in the 24th minute, and that was to be the end of the scoring.

The reserves run of wins came to and end today as they went down 1-0 at Whyteleafe.

The Reserves won their third game in a row tonight with a 2-1 win over Berkhamsted Town. The goals were scored by Ross Pickett and Mark Burgess.

On Saturday, the Reserves outplayed Oxford City's second string to win 3-1 at LOOT Stadium. With both of his goalkeepers injured, manager Alan Rolnick gave "Andy" Angir a debut between the sticks. The 6ft 5in giant had an excellent game. Hendon made a perfect start Darius ALAMOUTI opened the scoring. Midway through the half, Hendon doubled their advantage, Miroslaw SPYCHALA scoring. On the stroke of half-time, Hendon fell asleep and Oxford reduced the arrears.

The Greens recovered from this shock and extended the lead through Ike OBIJI in the 71st minute and they really should have scored more goals, but a number of chances were wasted. A disappointing note came near the end when Tuesday night's match-winner James Burgess was sent off for two bookable offences, the second of which on what manager Alan Rolnick described as "a perfectly good tackle." Mr Rolnick was a happy man on Saturday night, saying, "I am very pleased with the result. We are beginning to blend into a better side. We have a lot of injuries at the moment so the size of the squad is beginning to pay dividends."

On Tuesday night, a solid performance was enough to overcome newly-promoted Northwood. They made a disastrous start, conceding an early goal through an unfortunate error in goal by Grant Hamilton. However, they recovered from this and drew level before the break with a goal from Darius ALAMOUTI. The Greens dominated the second half but only had one goal to show for it. Belgi (formerly Gogo) Soki, David Boateng and Miroslaw Spychala combined well down the right wing, before Soki crossed into penalty area. Northwood's keeper came off his line, but he was beaten to the ball by James BURGESS, whose header rolled into the net for the winner.

The draw for the Middlesex Premier Cup has been made and has given has a trip to Southall in the First Round on a date to be confirmed.

On Saturday, Hendon suffered an unfortunate injury to 17-year-old newcomer Lee Jarvis, who suffered a broken collar-bone after being fouled in the penalty area. Ricky Waller struck the penalty straight and was unfortunate that the goalkeeper didn't dive, so made a comfortable save. From there, it went from bad to worse from Hendon as naive defending allowed an average Sutton team the chances to net 4 times without reply. Manager Alan Rolnick saw what was happening to his charges and made three substitutions before half-time, but the writing was on the wall. Mr Rolnick said, "I am very confident that quite soon our fortunes will change. Inevitably, team changes will have to be made until we get it right."

Hendon scored an 87th minute equaliser through substitute Danny O'Sullivan after 10 man Kingstonian took the lead just four minutes earlier. Hendon included 7 players with first team experience in the line up. The line up was Grant Hamilton, David Boateng, Lee O'Donnell (Miroslaw Spychala), Pat Sappleton, John McKinney (Ewan Ironside), Duncan Hamilton, Mark Burgess, Dave Stewart, Dennis Attoh (Danny O'Sullivan), Ike Obiji, Paul Johnson. Unused subs : Tyrone Samuels, Ray Ford.

On Monday night the Reserves fell to three sucker punches, two from corners and one from a long-throw in conceding 3 goals at Walton & Hersham, Lee O'Donnell reduced the arrears to 2-1 with Hendon's first goal and Dave Stewart scored from the penalty spot after Ike Obiji had been brought down in the box fo make it 3-2, but an equaliser would not come.

Hendon Reserves started their Suburban League Premier Division campaign in almost identical style to the senior side, losing 2-0 to a team they outplayed for large spells of the match. Manager Alan Rolnick bemoaned his team's naiïve defending, which cost them two goals. The man of the match was midfielder Mark Burgess, back for a second spell at the club. who had been impressive in preseason games too.

The first few league fixtures have been released and the reserves open their campaign with a home game against Corinthian Casuals on Saturday, closely followed by a trip to Walton & Hersham two days later. Full details of the early fixtures can be found on the fixtures and results page.

Hendon's reserve squad held a full strength Romford side to a goalless draw at Sungate last night.

The squad featured 5 Hendon players with Ryman League experience for the Greens. They were: Mark Turner, who has featured in a few of the first team friendlies and played under Neil Price, Mark Burgess, who played a few games in the late 90's, plus current squad members Richard Dee, David Boateng and Nathan Edwards.

It was a game of few chances, but Romford’s first choice team were not better than Alan Rolnick’s squad. Players who stood out for Alan were Boateng, Dee, Corrie Pinney and Nick Lepite. The first half team was Grant Hamilton, Mark Turner, David Boateng, Brian Davidson, Richard Dee, Darius Alamouti, Chris Sappleton (a relation of Pat, although they did not know of each other until they compared notes about their hometown in Jamaica), Mark Burgess, Corrie Pinney, Nick Lepite, Nathan Edwards.

In the second half, the team was Ray Ford, Ricardo George, Boateng, Tyrone Samuel, Dee, Roman Wehbe, Ryszard Brzeski, Miroslav Spychala, Pinney, Lepite, Alamouti. Some of the other first half players also returned to the fray after the interval.