Hendon experienced defeat for the first time in the 2023/24 season with a 3-0 defeat against previously winless Plymouth Parkway at Bolitho Park.

Ethan Light came in for his Hendon debut before departing the scene after colliding with the goalpost attempting to clear Plymouth's second goal, while the Greens ended the match with just 9 men for the second season in succession.

Hendon got off to the worst possible start in the 6th minute when a shot hit a Hendon hand from no more than a yard away and the referee pointed to the spot. Plymouth skipper Ryan Lane went down the middle and opened the scoring for the home team.

That gave Plymouth confidence and they took complete control of proceedings, with Hendon struggling to get to grips with their opponents shape. A muddled clearance from a backpass on the half-hour mark saw Joe Belsten lob a superbly-judged effort from fully 50-yards into the net, at which point Light left the action to be replaced by the returning Eren Kinali.

Bad became worse on the stroke of half-time when Dave Diedhiou was dismissed for his part in an unseemly melee on the halfway line giving the tangerine-shirted Greens a second half mountain to climb.

After the break, Plymouth were content to sit on their 2-goal advantage and allow Hendon plenty of possession. Although there was an assuredness in Hendon's play that had been missing in the first half, they struggled to make much impact in the attacking third.

With twenty minutes remaining, Hendon's afternoon was compounded when a miscontrol from Lucas Perry set Jack Crago through on the Hendon goal. As Matt Kerbey came out to challenge for the ball inside his area, Crago toe-ended the ball past the Hendon goalkeeper before going down under the challenge.

The referee pointed to the spot and dismissed Kerbey (he later emailed the club admitting his error in showing the red card) for the challenge. Lane stepped up and thundered his penalty beyond Joe White, who took the gloves, to complete a good day for the home side as they picked up their first points of the campaign, and compound a miserable afternoon for Lee Allinson's men.