a hugely disappointing performance against Bishop's Stortford at Claremont Road on Saturday afternoon.

There are certainly mitigating reasons for the performance. The squad has been ravaged by injuries and illness, to the extent that only 10 players were able to train as normal on Thursday evening.

Dale Binns and Steve Forbes passed fitness tests to take their places in the starting line-up and they were joined by on-loan striker Jack Midson (from Stevenage Borough). At least Hendon could recall Lee Harvey who was cup-tied against Canvey Island.

On paper, the Hendon team looked to be of reasonable strength, but the way they played made it look as if the bug that kept Paul Yates, Rob Hollingdale and manager Dave Anderson was affecting them too. There was a lack of cohesion, the passing was poor and the general play was lacklustre.

Bishop's Stortford, meanwhile. have found some fine form in recent weeks with 4 League wins in their last 6 matches. This confidence was shown as early as the 7th minute when a long ball from Paul Kyriacou found its way to the left side of the penalty area where Glen Southam was all alone. His shot beat David Hook, but went wide of his left upright.

The rock-hard pitch made life diffcult for both defences but Mark Cooper and Lee Harvey were under severe pressure because Stortford used the ball so much better than Hendon did going forward. Dave Rainford went close after 26 minutes and Victor Renner really should have scored after 39.

In the last seconds of the first half, Hendon's resistance was broken. Southam's right wing corner was knocked into the net by RENNER as the Greens defence was caught flat-footed. Almost immediately, Hendon launched their most dangerous attack of the half, but half-time whistle went before they could get a shot at goal.

One minute after the break, Binns chased a bouncing ball and put Rob Gould under pressure. Ricci Crace also got involved and between them, they set up a chance for Binns. His shot seemed certain to go in, until it struck the back of Crace's heel and bounced away to safety.

In the 56th minute, Richard Howell made a good run down the right wing. He got around Iain Duncan and crossed for the unmarked Rob FRENCH to pick his spot with a close-range header.

Hendon soon brought on Martin Randall for Midson, who had struggled to make an impact on the game. In his defence, Midson had signed barely 24 hours before the game and he knew little of Hendon's pattern of play.

For all of Paul Towler's promptings in midfield, neither he nor Forbes could get anything going. Both Kieran Gallagher and Binns had scraps of possession and were forced, all too frequently, to play deep inside their own half.

With 15 minutes to got Stortford brought on former Arsenal striker Christopher Wreh for his first-team and the Liberian had an immediate impact. A minute after Hendon had withdrawn James Burgess in favour of the more attacking Lee Endersby, the Blues broke quickly down the left flank and the ball came across the penalty area, WREH was all alone and he scored.

In the 86th minute, neat work from Endersby set up an opening, but the final ball had too much weight and the chance was lost. Then, in stoppage time, Randall fired a shot that Micky Desborough palmed into the side netting.

Instead of a corner, referee Gavin Muge awarded a goal kick, but to Randall's annoyance, but the argument, rather like the game was already lost.