Hendon, by beating Harrow Borough 2-1 at Earlsmead on Easter Monday, have all but confirmed their safety from relegation. It was an often fractious battle, but a fine second half performance and superb defending from the back five ensured the points went to Claremont Road, despite deservedly falling a goal behind.

The Greens named an unchanged starting line-up from the one that beat Horsham on Saturday, but Wayne O'Sullivan and Jazz Rose came into the squad as susbstitutes in place of Bontcho Guentchev and Dale Archer.

Harrow started very brightly and Richard Wilmot made superb save to keep out a drive from James Bent after just eight minutes. Borough continued to look dangerous when they went forward and the back four struggled to compete against a four-man attack.

However, once Hendon had worked out a system that could slow down Borough, they started playing themselves, and almost immediately fell behind. In the 16th minute, the Greens forced a corner, which Jamie Busby curled into the near post.

Unfortunately for Hendon, all the attackers were around the penalty spot and Ashlee Jones made an unchallenged catch of the ball. His instant throw, out to Kai Williams, caught out the retreating defenders. No one got a challenge in before Williams unleashed a powerful shot which Wilmot did well to push away for a corner.

This corner, from Albert Adomah, was not cleared properly and when the ball bounced just outside the penalty area, Bobby Highton was waiting for it. His first time drive was superbly struck and placed even better, beyond Wilmot's dive and just inside the right post. It was no more than Harrow deserved for their bright opening.

They held the lead for just ten minutes and the equaliser, if not as spectacular as the opening goal, was very similar. Busby's curled corner was met by a punch from Jones, who collided with Dean Green as he made contact. The ball ricocheted about and fell at the feet of Marc Leach. The centre-half's first drive was blocked by one of five Borough defenders covering, but Leach's second effort, angled towards the corner, found the target.

In the 38th minute, Hendon were forced into making a double substitution with Green and Daragh Duffy going off with injuries and Wayne O'Sullivan and Brian Haule - against his former club - coming on.

By this stage, James Burgess, Craig Vargas, Leach and James Parker had begun to dominate their contests against the four-pronged Harrow attack of Byron Bubb, Elliot Onochie, Adomah and Bent, although Wilmot was forced to make made another good save late in the half.

Harrow boss Dave Howell urged his players to start the second half as they had the first and Borough really should have retaken the lead after 48 minutes, when a left-wing cross picked out an unmarked Onochie. The striker, however, blazed over the bar from less than ten yards out, much to the disappointment of his teammates and fans.

With Harrow playing little more than a 4-2-4 formation it gave Davis Haule the chance to run the match in the second half and the tall midfielder was almost as good as the four defenders behind him. His incisive passes set up Belal Aiteouakrim, Hudson, Brian Haule and O'Sullivan, but none of the chances were clear cut and the Harrow defence, superbly marshalled by Wayne Walters, just about coped.

Hendon were now by far the more likely scorers, but they had to be careful of Harrow's dangerous counter-attacking. Burgess, Vargas and Parker all made telling interceptions to thwart Harrow, while Onochie got no change out of Leach.

Some of the credit for Hendon's winning goal in the 81st minute must go to the referee. Davis Haule was sent crashing to the ground from an illegal challenge. However, as Hendon had a good attack building, the referee clearly played an advantage, which saw Hudson feed the ball to Brian Haule, who timed a diagonal pass perfectly for Vargas to chase.

The full-back reached the ball and went around Daniel Nielsen, before striking it low across the face of goal, some five yards in front of the posts. Aiteouakrim went for the ball, but couldn't reach it. However, it was enough to stop Jones from diving out for the ball and just before it reached the far post, O'Sullivan side-footed it into the net.

It was his first League goal for the club and the first he had scored since the middle of September, in consecutive cup ties. Even though the first of those had been an 89th-minute match-winner it was not as important as this one.

Within 30 seconds, Onochie again blew a great chance of scoring. This time it was a free header from half-a-dozen yards out and, once again, the striker failed to hit the target. With so much at stake, it is unsurprising that Hendon's defending became a little desperate, but with the ball bouncing on the terraces alongside the pitch, it is very hard to score and that was the objective.

"I thought this was another very professional performance," said manager Gary McCann. "The defence, James Burgess, Craig Vargas, James Parker and Marc Leach were all magnificent and Richard Wilmot kept us in the game with some vital saves.

"We haven't quite achieved our goal yet, but we are almost safe. Only Worthing in the bottom three can catch us, and this is if they win their last four games and we lose our last four."