Hendon moved off the bottom of the Ryman League Premier Division table with an excellent 3-1 defeat of Carshalton Athletic, plunging the Robins deeper into an ever-growing relegation mire. For the Greens this was one of the most complete performances of the season and if they had been able to win by a couple of extra goals they would actually have climbed out of the bottom three.

With Dean Green suspended, Wayne O'Sullivan switched full-back berths and Jazz Rose returned to the starting line-up.

The Greens could not have made a much better start. Having already forced a couple of corners in the first five minutes, a third one, taken by Lee O'Leary evaded a couple of defenders and, three yards inside the penalty area, fell at the feet of Jon Munday, who looked up and saw half a dozen yards of open space in front of him. Munday balanced himself, controlled the ball, taking it a couple of strides forward and blasted it into the net past a defender on the goalline.

Carshalton were on level terms in the 12th minute. Their first corner was curled into the penalty area, but was easily dealt with by a defender. However, the referee spotted some shirt-pulling by another Hendon player and immediately awarded a penalty. Luke Fontana made no mistake with a powerful low drive past Richard Wilmot's right hand.

For the next 20 or so minutes, the game was very open, though chances at either end were few and far between. Belal Aiteouakrim and Brian Haule led the Carshalton defence a merry dance, but the final ball just lacked the accuracy to create a clear opening.

Hendon had an escape when Munday was caught in possession and was cautioned for pulling down Luke Fontana as the striker tried to go clear. The free-kick, however, failed to clear the wall and the ball was cleared without too much difficulty.

In the 37th minute, a foul on Rakatahr Hudson, 15 yards inside the Hendon half, led to a free-kick. The ball was launched downfield - down the slope - and Robins keeper Paul Seuke called to claim it. It was a terrible error of judgement because he would not have been able to do anything more than punch the ball because he would certainly have carried it out of the penalty area had he tried to catch.

Seuke didn't actually have a chance to punch the ball either. That was because Rose got to it first and, as he was being buffeted in a challenge, flicked the ball over the defence and, one bounce, into the net.

It has been a long-held theory that for the visiting team at Carshalton to get a result, they must have at least a one-goal lead to defend in the second half if they are going up the hill after break. Carshalton certainly applied plenty of pressure on the Hendon goal, but James Parker and Munday were more than comfortable in keeping out Eban Allen and Fontana, while neither Alhadjee Jabbie nor Mark Marshall could get the better of O'Sullivan or Rose.

O'Leary, James Burgess and Hudson more than held their own in the midfield, though the Hendon front three didn't really get too many openings. Shots from both Burgess and Haule flew wide of the target from those rare forays forward.

However, in the 67th minute, Hendon had a much better attack. Haule was clearly tripped by David Graves, but it was not spotted by the referee. The ball however went out to Ross Pickett, who quickly picked out Aiteouakrim in space. He had a clear shot at goal, but wastefully failed to hit the target from close range.

A minute later, the miss was forgotten as the same players scored a superb goal. O'Sullivan started the move and timed his pass perfectly for Aiteouakrim to beat the offside trap and have a clear run at goal. Seuke came off his line but Aiteouakrim dummied a shot before taking the ball around the goalkeeper and slotting the ball into the unguarded net. The speed and deception showed by Aiteouakrim were exceptional.

Hendon were able to coast to the final whistle from there. Carshalton pressed without much conviction, although there was one lob just outside the penalty area that caught out Wilmot. The ball, however, dropped behind the goal, much to the relief of Hendon's noisy supporters.

"I thought it was an excellent performance, from one to eleven," said a delighted Hendon manager Gary McCann. "We dominated the game all over the pitch and thoroughly deserved the three points."