Hendon produced a most disappointing second half display in going down 3-1 to Horsham at Gorings Mead on Saturday afternoon. A third defeat in eight days saw Hendon slip back to 17th in the Ryman League Premier Division, just two points above the drop zone.

The Greens responded to the midweek defeat at Boreham Wood, by making three changes to the starting line-up. James Bent, Lee O'Leary and James Burgess were recalled at the expense of Craig Vargas, Bradley Woods-Garness and Kevin Maclaren in a reshaped formation.

For the first 35 or so minutes, it looked an inspired selection because Horsham were ripped apart.

After six minutes, former Hendon defender and Horsham skipper Sam Page scythed down Casey Maclaren just outside the penalty area. He was not quite the last man so received a caution and the free-kick was blocked by the wall.

Two minutes later, Josh Pelling made a fine save to deny Jamie Busby as the midfielder shot through a crowd of players. But the goalkeeper might have been dismissed after nine minutes when he was exposed by a bad back-pass from Anthony Acheampong.

Casey Maclaren reached the ball first and as he turned to slide the ball with his left foot into the empty net, Pelling barged him in the back. The ball rolled against the outside of the post as Maclaren lay on the corner of the six-yard box. To the relief of the goalkeeper and the whole home contingent, the referee awarded a goal-kick.

Defending the bottom end of the very difficult Gorings Mead pitch proved to be a real problem for Horsham and Pelling was busy dealing with raid after raid from Hendon. Anthony Thomas twice went close and a back-pass from Sam Page would have resulted in Hendon's opener had his brother Jack not bailed him out with a goalline clearance.

The opening goal seemed almost inevitable and it duly arrived after 30 minutes. More poor defending from the home team resulted in Maclaren winning a challenge just outside the Horsham penalty area. His astute through ball picked out Anthony Thomas, whose early first-time shot beat Pelling.

Pelling almost sliced back-pass into his own net and then watched in relief as another clearance was blocked by a leaping Maclaren, who saw his attempt dip inches over the crossbar.

Horsham manager John Maggs had seen enough and he made an early tactical substitution. After 33 minutes he took off youngster Adam Hutchings and replaced him with the experienced Steve Davies.

The change paid immediate dividends as, in the ten minutes before half-time, Horsham enjoyed a concerted spell of pressure and James Reading produced a superb save to deny Sam Page and saw a header from Pat Harding fly narrowly over the bar.

Hendon nearly extended their lead in the first few minutes of the second half. Both Busby and Anthony Thomas were denied by Pelling, the former save being far more accomplished.

After 58 minutes, a midfield 50/50 challenge was ruled a foul by Hendon. When the ball was crossed into the penalty area, the Hendon defence dozed and paid the penalty. The free-kick was headed back across the penalty area from beyond the far post and Sam Page crashed home a volley off the underside of the crossbar.

It was the game's turning point and, from there, there was only going to be one winner. Five minutes later, a free-kick from Alex Haddow went past the Hendon wall and Reading before the striking the foot of the right post. No Hendon player appeared to react as Harding latched onto the rebound and scored with ease.

For a third straight match, Hendon had gone from leading to trailing and the confidence in the team evaporated almost visibly. A shot from Burgess was parried at the near post, but most of the chances were at other end as Horsham looked likely to add to their lead with every attack.

Hendon brought on Belal Aite-Ouakrim for the out-of-sorts Bradley Thomas midway through the second half and he immediately inconvenienced the home defence, only to be correctly denied by the assistant referee's offside flag.

With 12 minutes to go, a third Horsham goal came from a set-piece. This time it was a corner which was half-cleared, but when the ball was returned to the penalty area, the unmarked Harding helped himself again.

In the final few minutes, Hendon's attacks made serious inroads into the Horsham rearguard and there were chances of varying degrees for Scott Cousins, Maclaren, Dave Diedhiou, Busby, Anthony Thomas and Aite-Ouakrim, but a combination of inaccuracy, desperate defending and good goalkeeping kept them all out.

"It's another very disappointing defeat," said despondent manager Gary McCann. "Some of our football in the first half was absolutely outstanding, but we didn't take the chances when they came our way.

"Just before half-time, when Sam Page had that chance, I saw things I wasn't happy with and I had to dig out a few players about their performances. But we failed to defend against three set pieces.

"We didn't get any luck today, but we should have been out of sight before half-time."