Hendon advanced to a Bryco (Ryman League) Cup quarter-final tie against Kingstonian with a hard-fought, extra time victory over Wingate & Finchley at the Abrahams Stadium after heavy overnight rain instigated the venue switch. Rob Haworth walked out of the ground clutching the matchball in his arms after scoring a hat-trick where he administered the final touch only once.

The Greens gave first games back to goalkeeper Gary McCann and midfielder Noel Staiano in a team missing 7 first-teamers: David Hook, Iain Duncan, Mark Cooper, Jon-Barrie Bates, Steve Forbes, Ricci Crace and Martin Randall. Of the septet, Duncan, Bates and Crace were on the bench, the latter two coming on in the second half.

In the 13th minute, Hendon opened the scoring. Paul Yates' pass released Haworth, who held off Alon Hemmerdinger, and having worked an opening, HAWORTH fired a drive that beat Andy Walker all ends up. The ball, however, smacked off the near post and rebounded off the grounded goalkeeper 3 yards off his line and slowly, almost apologetically, trickled into the net.

There was nothing lucky about the Wingate & Finchley equaliser in the 27th minute. After keeping the ball for a number of passes, probing for an opening, the chance fell to Paul HAKIM 20-odd yards from the goal. He took careful aim and fired in a peach of a shot that gave McCann no chance.

Within 2 minutes Wingate & Finchley thought they had taken the lead when a free-kick from the right wing somehow found the net. The assistant referee saw an offside as soon as the ball was struck and referee Mr Paul Cox ruled out the score. The end of the first half was dominated Wingate, who couldn't turn two or three half chances into goals.

Hendon were proactive at half-time, withdrawing the disappointing Kieran Gallagher and bringing on Bates to shore up the midfield. His ball-winning skills immediately opened things up out wide for Yates on the right and Dale Binns on the left. Binns, in particular began to enjoy himself against Daniel Nielsen as Hendon forced a succession of corners.

The closest the Greens came to a goal was in the 54th minute when Haworth fired at goal. A desperate block from Hemmerdinger sent the ball directly at the retreating Walker and flew just past the target. At the other end, in the 56th minute, a loud appeal for a penalty against Hendon for handball was ignored by Mr Cox.

Both teams made a number of changes, with Lee Endersby and Crace replacing Binns and Eugene Ofori, respectvely, while Wingate & Finchley introduced Danny Chapman and James Thompson at the expense of Marian Varga and Dean Nyman, respectively.

In the 74th minute, Walker did well to save from Haworth, but it delayed the second goal only by a couple of corners. The one from the right side was knocked out for a kick from the left. This time when the ball came in HAWORTH and Paul Towler jumped for the ball, but the only real contact came from Walker who punched the ball into his own net.

Two minutes later, Hendon cheers at a third goal were stilled in their throats as a borderline offside decision went against them. It was to prove costly in the short term.

Former Hendon youth-teamer Danny Berg took over from Sam Liebmann and it signalled a spell of concerted pressure from Wingate & Finchley. No matter how hard they tried, Hendon just couldn't clear the ball and any number of crosses and shots rained in on McCann's goal. With less than 70 seconds remaining in normal time, Chapman got around the back of James Burgess and drilled a low cross which HAKIM turned into the net with a minimum of fuss.

For a second consecutive Tuesday, Hendon faced extra time, but this time there was joy for the green and white. In the 98th minute, McCann caught a corner and spotted Haworth and Endersby covered by just one Wingate & Finchley defender. His rapid downfield clearance was headed on by Haworth and ENDERSBY needed just the one touch to send a magnificent 35-yard lob over Walker and into the net. It was a magnificent piece of skill by the former England non-league international.

In the last minute of the opening period of extra-time, Hendon added to their lead. A corner was headed out of the penalty area to YATES, who drilled a tracer shell of a shot into the bottom left corner.

Instead of going on with a degree of comfort, Hendon sat back and invited Wingate & Finchley forward. They needed no second bidding. With Dean Williams a constant threat, McCann made one good save and was grateful to watch a shot from Chapman fly harmlessly over the crossbar.

Committed to all out attack, Hendon took advantage in the 120th minute. Crace went out to the right wing and received a pass from Micky Woolner. Haworth screamed for the ball and timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap.

He had too much pace and strength for Hemmerdinger, Wingate & Finchley's best player on the night, and as Walker came off his line, HAWORTH smacked the ball past him and into the net.

"I am very pleased to won the game tonight," said manager Dave Anderson. "I think 5-2 was very harsh on Wingate & Finchley. I am very disappointed with the way that we conceded the goal to force extra time."