Hendon Under-21s slipped to a narrow defeat against an excellent Springfield team in their league encounter at Chase Lodge on Saturday afternoon. Hendon were hampered by three players dropping out in the day before the match, university commitments rightly taking priority, but the team still battled one of the top teams in the division all the way. The match was mainly a midfield battle with neither attacks getting much of a look at goal.

The turning point of the game came midway through the second half, when Hendon were awarded a penalty. Rafael Augustin took the spot kick, but he was denied by a superb save from the Springfield goalkeeper, whose rapid clearance set up the winner - on the break - at the other end. Adding to Hendon's disappointment at conceding in this manner was the fact that the referee overruled his assistant's flag for offside against the goalscorer.

Joint manager Graham Bourne said, "There were only two shots at goal in the whole match, our penalty which was saved, and their counter-attack from the penalty, which they scored. Springfield are a very good side and I don’t think they will lose many matches in the League this season.

"But I thought we were absolutely superb and deserved something from the game. My man of the match was Niall Houghton, who was excellent at right back. That said, every one of our players did very well today and I am so proud of them."