Hendon produced probably their poorest performance of the season on Tuesday night as they subsided to a 5-2 defeat against Hampton & Richmond Borough. What was most frustrating was that almost all five of the goals were down to individual errors gifting possession or chances to a Hampton team desperate for points.

For a second consecutive match, the Greens named the same starting 11 and four of five substitutes - Sam Flegg came in for Isaiah Rankin being the only alteration to the 16. On the bench for the Beavers was Belal Aite-Ouakrim, who joined the club after leaving Hendon in the summer.

There were worrying signs in the opening 20 minutes as Hendon's passing, so slick and comfortable against Thamesmead, was absent. Three times Hampton players found themselves in space, but their shooting accuracy was as good as the Greens' passing and Berkley Laurencin remained untroubled.

However, in the 20th minute, a cross was not headed clear and went straight to Charlie Moone. Laurencin had taken a couple of steps off his line as the cross came in and thus was out of position as Moone looped a delicate chip over him and just under the crossbar.

Eight minutes later, Hendon enjoyed a good spell of possession down the right flank. Unfortuantely, with Jack Bennett linking up in support and Casey Maclaren also looking to get forward, when the ball was lost in mdfield, it took only one pass to carve open the Greens defence.

James Fisher was the only man back and he had no chance of catching Moone, who sped clear of him, steadied himself and drilled a shot under the advance Laurencin.

More Beavers attacks were aided by sloppy Hendon passing, but on the rare occasions when the interplay worked, the Hampton defence didn't look particularly secure. Dave Diedhiou really should have done better with one raid, firing wide and high of the near post with both Jefferson Louis and Carl McCluskey better placed.

Lee O'Leary then got the ball stuck between his feet and another chance went begging while Tony Taggart remained bright when he found time and space. In the 38th minute, Louis was pulled down a yard from the penalty area.

A good ball into the penalty area from Kevin Maclaren needed only a touch from a Hendon player to bring them back into the game, but Rodney Chiweshe was not tested.

Six minutes into the second half, excellent work by Moone saw him get past Casey Maclaren. The defender tried to get back and succeeded only in deflecting Moone's powerful drive just inside the far post.

And the game was pretty much put to bed in the 57th minute when the ball struck the outstretched arm of a Hendon defender inside he penalty area. He couldn't get out of the way, but a penalty was nonetheless awarded and Moone made it a personal four-timer from 12 yards.

This was the signal for a triple change by Hendon, the Maclaren brothers and Taggart making way for Anthony Thomas, Max McCann and Michael Murray. Much too Hendon's relief, Moone was soon taken off, with Aite-Ouakrim replacing him.

Hendon remained all at sea defensively and Laurencin pulled off two or three excellent saves.

With 15 minutes to go, LOouis scored his 12th goal of the season with superbly-placed header that Chiweshe could only watch as it bounced down, hit the inside of the post and crossed the line.

What might have been sprang to mind in the 86th minute when Louis completed his double in spectacular fashion, a stunning 25-yard strike on the turn. Normally, it is not appropriate to celebrate a goal when you are reducing arrears to 4-2 in the dying minutes, but this was a very special strike that merited acclaim.

However, within 60 seconds, the Hendon defence parted like the Red Sea when Moses approached. In this case it was Tommy Brewer and his powerful drive made it 5-2 a more fitting reflection on Hampton's domination.