Hendon's poor run of league results continued on Tuesday night with a 2-0 defeat at Staines Town, a result that meant the Swans maintained their position in second place in the table. Both sides were hit by injuries, but Gary McCann made just one change to the starting line-up with Danny Dyer replacing Lubomir Guentchev who dropped down to the bench.

Staines included former Hendon players Davis Haule and Dave Sargent in their line-up and had a third ex-Green on the bench in the form of goalkeeper James Courtnage.

The opening period of the game was rather disjoined. Marc Charles-Smith fired just wide for Staines, whilst at the other end Charlie Mapes forced the Swans defence into a hasty clearance early on. There was also a stoppage of a few minutes when one of the assistants broke his flag which didn't help the flow of the game.

Midway through the half James Bent sent a lovely pass into the path of Danny Dyer, but Dave Sargent made a good challenge to divert the ball away for a corner. However, as has so often been the case this season, the Greens were unable to trouble Louis Wells in the Staines goal.

On the half-hour mark, Staines took the lead. A good ball was played out of defence to Elliot Onochie who fired in a shot which Richard Wilmot did very well to block with his feet. The ball flew into the air and fell to the unmarked Richard Butler who headed home.

Staines then began to take control of the game. Jon McDonald was fouled just outside the box, and Lewis Cook whipped in a free-kick which was flicked over the bar by Charles-Smith.

Shortly afterwards Cook made two late challenges on Kevin Maclaren. He was booked for the first one, but when he made the second challenge, Maclaren retaliated with an elbow, and he was shown the red card. Whilst there was no doubt that Maclaren deserved to go, it is debatable as to whether Cook should have followed him for a second caution as the second challenge looked very similar to the first for which he had been cautioned. This meant that the Greens were chasing the game with just ten men.

There was further concern towards the end of the half when Wilmot was injured in a 50/50 challenge with the ever hard-working Butler, but he was able to complete the match with little problem.

Hendon battled hard in the second half to try and get back into the game. Charlie Mapes was withdrawn at half-time and replaced by Dave Diedhiou, and he added some bite into midfield. However, the game continued to be disjointed and chances at either end were at a premium and both keepers had a quiet 45 minutes.

The second goal came in the 75th minute and it was the result of another long ball from defence. Butler collected the ball and although Wilmot blocked his initial drive, Butler was able to fire the ball home from an acute angle. It was a fine finish from a quality striker, something that the Greens are badly missing with the injuries to Brian Haule and Chris Bangura.

Hendon's best chance of the game came late on. James Burgess broke down the right wing and delivered a lovely cross into the box. Kayan Kalipha, who had come on as a second half substitute, managed to connect with the ball but it flashed wide of goal.

Shortly afterwards, Jamie Busby floated in a free-kick, which Wells had to stretch to gather. Had he not done so, the ball would have fallen onto the head of Rakatahr Hudson two yards from goal and he would have surely scored.

The game drew tamely to a close, and Hendon left Wheatsheaf Lane hoping that they could kick start their campaign with a win at Dulwich Hamlet in the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.

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