Hendon's pre-season campaign took a bit of a bump at Burnham on Wednesday evening. Despite the game ending level at 3-3, the Greens were thoroughly outplayed in the opening 45 minutes and could only snatch the draw in the final minute.

The first half performance was very disappointing, and the home side went ahead after just 44 seconds when the defence failed to deal with a run from an attacker. The lead was doubled in the 15th minute when a shot was left by Rhys Matthews in goal who thought it was going wide, but to his horror it was actually on target.

Burnham controlled proceedings throughout the half, and it was no surprise when the scoreline became 3-0 in the 37th minute - another attack not being dealt with by the Hendon back line. In truth, had the scoreline been as many as six or seven, no one could have complained.

The second half saw the Greens slowly come back into the game, and there was much more possession and positive play. However, it took half an hour for the back of the net to be found when Carl McCluskey rose to head the ball home.

With five minutes to go, Hendon were awarded a penalty for a trip in the box, and Jefferson Louis stepped up but saw his strike well saved by the keeper. Unfortunately for Burnham, the assistant referee ruled that the keeper had moved off his line before the ball was struck, and so the penalty was retaken. Louis went the opposite way and scored, despite the keeper getting a hand to the ball.

With a minute to go, the Greens scored the equaliser, and it was Dave Diedhiou who found the back of the net with his fifth goal of pre-season, all of which have been scored with his head.

Assistant manager Freddie Hyatt was less than impressed with the first 45 minutes. "I thought we were awful in the first half," he admitted.

"We said to the players that we expected them to pressure us and close us down and that is exactly what they did. We could have been six down at the break.

"The players were warned that Burnham are at the same level as us, but in a different league, so it is what we should expect week in and week out during the season.

"We were much better in the second, passed the ball better and looked more composed.

"All in all it was a very good exercise for the whole squad."