Hendon Under-21's season-opener at Sporting Hackney went ahead with the Greens having the bare 11 players, none of whom were recognised goalkeepers and, in the circumstances, put up a fine show despite going down 3-1. Sporting Hackney scored twice in the first half, but Hendon pulled a goal back four minutes after the resumption when Carl Ciagoro scored. That was as good as it got for Hendon and they conceded a third goal later in the half. Joint managers Graham Bourne and Eamon Finn, who returned to the club at short notice just before the season started, were delighted with the performance and gave their man of the match award to Dylan Agyako, who not only made a number of telling interceptions and broke up many dangerous attacks from Sporting.