Hendon progressed to the semi-finals of the London Senior Cup on Tuesday night following a comfortable 4-0 victory against Erith & Belvedere at a very cold and wet Park View Road. Despite the weather conditions, the pitch was in superb condition and didn’t deteriorate at all throughout the game.

Gary McCann made four changes to the starting eleven, with Mark Kirby, Lubomir Guentchev, Glenn Garner and James Burgess coming in to replace Craig Vargas, Peter Dean, Brian Haule and Sam Collins.

The Greens had the wind and rain at their faces in the first half and nearly took the lead just two minutes in when Lee O’Leary took a shot at goal from 25 yards, but the ball flew wide of the target. Ten minutes later O’Leary delivered a cross from the right, but both Burgess and Danny Dyer left it for each other and the Erith defence were able to clear.

In the 22nd minute, Glenn Garner broke through the defence and was through on goal when Erith keeper Matt Bromby was slightly late trying to get to the ball and brought Garner down. Bromby was cautioned for the challenge.

Guentchev stepped up to take the spot kick which was saved by Bromby and Jamie Busby ran in to put the rebound into the net. However, the goal was disallowed as the referee correctly ruled that Busby had encroached into the area before Guentchev had taken the original spot kick.

Five minutes later a corner routine involving Guentchev and Dyer saw the ball delivered into the box where James Parker narrowly missed attempting to direct it home with a header.

Hendon’s first goal wasn’t far away however, and it came in the 34th minute. Jamie Busby, who was playing in an unfamiliar striker’s role for the night, was brought down in the penalty area by James Gross. This time Busby himself took the spot kick and sent Bromby the wrong way and the ball nestled in the corner of the net.

Both sides were getting the ball down on to the excellent surface and playing some good football, but Erith found the Hendon defence in fine form and were limited to a handful of half-chances with Will Viner not having a real save to make.

Busby was in the action seconds into the second half when he volleyed narrowly wide of the goal, but he did better in the 49th minute. He received the ball about 15 yards from goal and coolly fired the ball into the net to double the lead for the Greens.

The home side then had a spell of pressure as they looked to get back into the game. Firstly Matt Bedford had a shot go wide of the target before Nick Smith had a chance that was deflected wide for a corner by Parker. From the set piece, Dyer was forced to clear the ball off the line.

A third chance for Erith fell to their skipper Ryan Robinson, but his shot was directed straight at Viner who made a comfortable save. At the other end Garner broke into the box and crossed for Kevin Maclaren who shot narrowly over the bar.

Just after the hour mark, Hendon made a double substitution, replacing O’Leary and Busby with Vargas and Dean.

In the 64th minute Hendon scored again. The Greens had an initial shot blocked by a defender, but Garner latched on to the loose ball and slammed it into the net, giving Bromby no chance of making a save. This third goal made the game safe for the Greens and they controlled the game to the final whistle.

Erith continued to play some good passing football, but they found the Hendon midfield and defence in unforgiving mood and the home side’s moves were broken down with ease.

The final goal of the evening came as the tie moved into stoppage time. Bromby went to clear the ball but fired the ball against Guentchev. The young Bulgarian took a touch to control the ball and sent a perfect lob over Bromby into the net much to the delight of the six fans behind the goal who had stood out in the heavy rain for the full 90 minutes supporting the Greens.

The win means that Hendon will travel to either Tooting & Mitcham United or Cray Wanderers in the semi-finals on a date to be confirmed. The two teams play their quarter-final on Tuesday 10th March at Imperial Fields.

(Report by Steve Rogers - not to be reproduced without permission from the author)