Hendon produced a magnificent fightback to record a 4-3 victory over Kingstonian at a rain-sodden Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday afternoon. And, for the third year running, it was Eugene Ofori who scored the Greens' winner on this ground.

Danny Butler's midweek injury had not improved enough for him to start, so James Burgess came in for him.

Kingstonian had the wind in their favour in the first half but, at least for the first half of the period, they completely failed to use it. Hendon meanwhile opened with confidence that came from the midweek victory over Leyton.

In the eighth minute, Ofori beat the offside trap, but he took the ball a little too wide and from an angle more acute than necessary fired a shot that Barry Marchena blocked with his legs.

A minute later, the defence was sprung again, but this time Marchena could not save the Ks. Mark Nicholls lifted the ball over the defensive line and FRENDO, after beating Marchena to the ball slipped it into the empty net.

After dominating the first 20 minutes, Hendon took their feet off the pedals and completely gave up any advantage they had enjoyed. Dave King produced two superb saves to deny Martyn lee and Scott Steele, but was helpless when Martyn WILLIAMS scored after the Hendon defence had been torn apart.

King again rescued Hendon with a magnificent save from a long-range James Rose effort in the 41st minute, but delayed the inevitable by only a few seconds. The corner went to the near post where King tried to punch the ball clear. It seemed as if a Ks player just got a flick on the ball to knock it past the goalkeeper, but however it happened, the ball reached ROSE, who had a simple task to give Ks a half-time lead.

Any hopes Hendon would use the conditions better in the second half seemed folorn as Ks extended their lead just four minutes after the interval. It was a fine low shot from an unmarked LEE that flew past King just inside his near post to leave Hendon with a mountain to climb.

But climb it they did. The fightback started in the 53rd minute when Nicholls again created an opening and FRENDO beat the offside trap to make it 3-2.

An incredible goalline clearance from Mark Burgess kept the deficit at one as he somehow studded the ball from the line as he slipped in covering King after Williams had knocked the ball past the goalkeeper and was turning to celebrate. It proved a big turning point.

Hendon's equalizer arrived midway through the second half. Danny Julienne, who had replaced Dave Nolan, worked well down the right side. He passed to Frendo, who danced past Steve Sanders and had a clear sight of goal. However, instead of going for the glory with a hat-trick, he laid the ball into the path of NICHOLLS, whose tap-in was a much easier opportunity than Frendo would have had.

In the 70th minute, former Hendon loan player Maz Ifura denied his former teammate Ofori with a spectacular goalline clearance after Marchena had been lobbed by the striker. Ifura somehow was able to knock the ball sideways at full stretch and going directly towards his own goal.

But, in the 75th minute, the Ks defence was again ripped apart by a simple downfield pass. Ofori had the strength to hold off Richard Taylor and even kept his feet as the Kingstonian captain risked a red card with a foul challenge. Having got clear of the last defender, Marchena was beaten by OFORI's 12-yard strike that found the bottom corner.

It could have got worse for Kingstonian, four minutes later, when René Street lost his marker at a corner from Richard McDonagh. His powerful glancing header would have gone just inside the far post had Ks player-manager Scott Steele not bundled the ball clear. Wayne Carter then was offside as he turned to shoot from six yards out.

Martin Vrhovski and Ross Pickett came on late in the game as Hendon tried to slow the game down. Kingstonian had a couple of half-chances late on, but King was equal to a couple of long-range shots.

"A rollercoaster ride is an understatement when describing this game", admitted manager Tony Choules. "I think we mentally switch off after we have had a good spell and it means we are inconsistent.

"The comeback was superb. We showed resilience and a will to win. But once we had equalised, I knew we would win."