The play-off final went all the way to penalties this afternoon, but the first team fell at the final hurdle to go down 4-3 to Dulwich Hamlet in the shoot-out, meaning that the South London club are promoted to National League South for next season. The game was played in front of a stadium record for Imperial Fields of 3321, the crowd including a huge number of Hendon supporters numbering at least 500.

The shoot-out came after 120 minutes of football, played at a good tempo despite the heat, failed to split the two teams. Ashley Nathaniel-George gave the Greens a 36th minute lead when his shot eluded the diving Amadou Tangara to hit the back of the net, whilst the equaliser for the home side came courtesy of Gavin Tomlin in the 54 minute following a goalmouth scramble.

Tom Lovelock made some quality saves to keep the Greens in the game, whilst going forward, the front players found the home defence in unforgiving form, and not giving them the space they had enjoyed against Folkestone on Thursday evening.

Chances in extra time were at a premium, and it wasn't a surprise that the game ended with penalties. Sam Murphy, Daniel Uchechi and Niko Muir were on target for the Greens, with Oliver Sprague and Michael Corcoran seeing their efforts saved, whilst Lovelock was only able to keep out one effort from Dulwich.

Our congratulations go to Dulwich for their promotion, and we wish them every success next season. Of course, we also wish them luck with their ongoing battle to get themselves back to their rightful home at Champion Hill.