Hendon put in their worst performance of the season on Saturday afternoon as they lost 3-0 to a rejuvenated Kingstonian side at Vale Farm.

The Ks, who had lost their first four games of the season, had made seven new signings in the 48 hours prior to the game, five of whom were named in their line-up. The other two were named on the bench.

Meanwhile, Gary McCann made two changes to the side that drew at Ashford Town (Middlesex) during the week. Mark Kirby made his first start of the season whilst Kevin Maclaren returned to the starting line-up to replace the unavailable James Burgess and the suspended Jamie Busby.

Without a doubt, Kingstonian were the better side during the first half, and within the opening two minutes they came close to taking the lead when Dean Lodge had a short on the turn that was fired straight at James Reading.

Hendon's first opportunity came a few minutes later when Wayne O'Sullivan took a free kick short to Peter Dean, who then crossed the ball into the box where Dave Diedhiou was unfortunate to see his header fly straight into the arms of Luke Garrard.

The Ks then had two chances come close together. Firstly Lodge cut in from the left but could only shoot wide, before one of their new signings, Matt Gray, had a shot from distance fly over the bar.

Hendon were passing the ball well at times, but the final ball was lacking penetration through the well organised Kingstonian defence, where Francis Duku was in total control, winning every ball in the air.

The only yellow card of the game just after the half-hour mark when Kingstonian's Des Boateng put in a two-footed challenge on O'Sullivan, the referee ruling that the tackle was dangerous.

The opening goal came in the 41st minute, and it was no surprise that it was the visitors who scored. Lodge broke through and fired in a shot at goal. Reading saved well but could only parry the ball. Unfortunately for the Greens, Bobby Traynor had been left completely unmarked and he had no trouble in latching on to the loose ball to lash it home.

Just before half-time Dean looked set to score, but was halted by a superb tackle from another of the Kingstonian signings, Mo Harkin.

The second half started with the Surrey side in the ascendency again, and Carl Wilson-Denis had two good chances in the opening five minutes. He was in the action again in the 54th minute but Reading made a good save from his shot on the turn.

On the hour mark, Dean could only fire over the bar, and almost immediately Hendon made a change with Glenn Garner replacing Sam Berry.

Reading was in action again two minutes later when he was forced to make a good save from a Lodge free kick, and in the 73rd minute he made another save, this time from Harkin, and Diedhiou was on hand to clear.

Hendon then had their best spell of the game as Garner took a free kick around 25 yards from goal, but the wall did its job in blocking his ferocious drive. Dean had another chance shortly afterwards, but his shot was deflected wide.

In the 80th minute Garner did well to beat off a couple of challenges to reach the by-line and he found Dean whose shot was well saved by Garrard and turned away for a corner. Then, with a minute to go, it was Dean's turn to set up Garner but he could only direct his effort at the keeper.

Just as the game moved into stoppage time, Kingstonian made the game safe as Lodge broke into the box, fed the ball to Karl Beckford, another of the new faces, and he slipped the ball under Reading to double the lead.

In the final minute of stoppage time, the Ks put a real gloss on the result with a third goal when substitute Simon Huckle fired in a superb strike from 25 yards which gave Reading no chance.

Whilst Kingstonian thoroughly deserved to win the game and pick up their first points of the season, 3-0 was a harsh scoreline on the Greens despite their disappointing performance. Hendon will be keen to put the result behind them on Monday afternoon as they entertain Aveley at Vale Farm.