Hendon were just unable to overcome a three-goal burst in the opening 12 minutes and went out of the London Senior Cup, losing 3-2 to Harrow Borough at Earlsmead.

With the FA Cup looming on Saturday, the Greens dipped into their Under-23 squad to complement first-teamers on the fringe of regular action. Starters Ben Gray and Edwin Mensah and substitutes Cheyce Grant and Jordan Payne, made their debuts, while Dan Purdue, William Murphy and Riccardo Alexander-Greenaway made their first starts for the first team and sub Michael White his seasonal bow.

It is hard to imagine a much worse start than the Greens made. A sixth-minute corner was not dealt with and Ant O'Connor scored with a flick that seemed to hit the inside of the far post before crossing the goalline.

Four minutes later, a simple pass released Dylan Kearney, who has just left Hendon for Harrow, and he burst past his marker, rounded Purdue before slamming the ball into the net.

And barely 75 seconds later, Purdue's attempted clearance, under pressure right on the edge of the penalty area, didn't get past Kearney. He returned the ball with interest, bouncing into the back of the unguarded net.

At this point, Hendon were thinking of damage limitation as embarrassment seemed the most likely outcome. But, instead, the team, which had never played together, started to gel and began to ask questions of Harrow's defence.

From the Greens' first corner an effort from Murphy bounced off the hand of a Harrow defender - he could not get out of the way and didn't unnaturally move his arm as he turned - and bounced just wide of the target. Tyriq Hunte was then denied twice in quick succession, once superbly, by Halfed Al-Droubi.

In the 21st minute, the fightback began in earnest. A good attack down the middle saw the ball passed out to the right winger and Matty Newman delivered an inch-perfect cross onto the head of Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick, whose header floated past a static Al-Droubi into the net for his first goal for the club.

Most of the rest of the first half was quite even, with neither goalkeeper having to make a difficult save, though there more than a few crosses for them to deal with. On the stroke of half-time, the Greens suffered a blow when Gray went down with a damaged hamstring - the third consecutive season in which he has suffered a similar injury - and he was replaced by Payne.

Hendon certainly had the better of the second half, but Harrow's "bend but don’t break" policy worked pretty well. The Greens were limited to only a few chances and it was the same at the other end, where Payne stood out with an assured performance.

Grant, for Murphy after 63 minutes, and White, for Hippolyte-Patrick four minutes later, were the Greens’ last changes as they looked for the goal that would set up a grandstand finish.

Harrow, meanwhile, were content to soak up pressure and attack on the counter. They had a couple of very good chances, with men over, but their decision-making was poor and defenders were able to make key interventions.

They got it with just under ten minutes of normal time remaining when White scored his first goal for the senior side with a good finish.

As the pressure mounted, Harrow’s defending became a bit more desperate, but their rearguard just about held firm, despite a couple of very nervous clearances from Al-Droubi.