Hendon were distinctly unlucky to lose their latest preseason friendly when Vinnie John - a five-figure transfer target less than two years ago - netted an 86th-minute winner for East Thurrock United at Rookery Hill on Saturday afternoon.

It was a broiling afternoon and the pace of the game dwindled drastically as it progressed. In fact, the absolutely correct decision of referee Colin Overall to stop for drinks after 24 minutes, completely changed the nature of the game: excellent until drinks, the game never came close to matching the entertainment in the final 60+ minutes.

In the second minute, John Frendo dispossed Mark Stanbrook and found himself with a clear run at goal. Glen Knight came racing off his line and although Frendo fired past him, the ball went inches wide of the far post.

Two minutes later, Hendon were behind. A deep cross found Scott Mallon alone at the far post. He headed the ball back across the six-yard box and Lee Burns seemed to have a simple header to score. However, Greens defender Danny Butler got to the ball first, but he could do no more than divert it past the blameless Dave King and into the net for an own goal.

The next ten minutes were dominated by the Rocks, who had the Hendon defence in panic mode. However, they were unable to put any efforts on target.

Suddenly Hendon found a way back into the game. A short pass from Frendo released Eugene Ofori into a gap. The robust challenge from the last defender that stopped his run may well have brought a red card in a competitive match, but Mr Overall showed the commonsense craved by both managers by issuing no sanction, other than a free-kick.

Mark Nicholls drove the ball at the wall, but it almost did its job to perfection. However, the ricochet fell to FRENDO, who wasted no time in knocking the ball past the exposed Knight.

Two minutes later, another Ofori run took him into the East Thurrock penalty area. There he was pushed by Stanbrook and although he didn't go to ground, he lost possession of the ball and Mr Overall had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Nicholls struck the ball confidently, but it clipped the top of the crossbar and bounced into the bushes behind the ground.

In the 20th minute, Frendo danced through two tackles, but his shot at goal was well blocked by Knight. A minute later, Ofori set up Frendo for a shot that missed the target by inches with Knight well beaten.

Then came the drinks interval and, following it, there were few clear cut chances for an hour. John had a couple of free-kicks, but one flew over the bar and the other resulted in a comfortable save for King.

In the 49th minute, King made a fine save to deny substitute Steve Blaney, who had made a fine long run.

Ten minutes later, Knight came out of his penalty area to deal with a through ball for Ofori. The goalkeeper used his hands illegally, but Nicholls failed to put the resulting free-kick on target.

In the 86th minute, Ricky Daly made a break down the East Thurrock right. He drilled in a low cross that eluded a forest of legs, both attacking and defending, and reached the unmarked John, five yards from goal. JOHN wasted no time in lifting the ball into the net for the winning goal.

Manager Tony Choules said, "That was a much better performance than of late. We are progressing and today there were many more pluses than minuses."