Hendon rebounded from the disappointment of Saturday afternoon to eke out a 1-0 victory over a stubborn Dover Athletic team at Claremont Road on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. It was far from a classic, but the strong wind and the need for both sides to win conspired to make pragmatism more important that prettiness.

There was only one change in the Hendon 16, James Burgess moving off the subs' bench at the expense of Dave Hunt, while Dover continued to chop and change in the hunt for some consistency. They included 41-year-old Paul Hyde in goal a veteran, who first faced Hendon at Claremont Road more than 20 years ago.

Dover had the strong wind at their backs in the first half and they found it almost impossible to deliver passes that their forwards could reach. Dave King was forced to tip two crosses away for corners, but was otherwise fairly untroubled.

It took Hendon more than 20 minutes to create an opening but, having found their way towards goal, Eugene Ofori, Wayne Carter, John Frendo and Mark Nicholls did little to make things difficult for Hyde. The goalkeeper did produce one superb save in a one-on-one with Frendo, but other efforts were very tame.

In the second half, Hendon upped the tempo and it did not take long for them to get their due reward. Before opening the scoring, however, they came very close. A slip by Hyde as came off his line resulted in the ball going beyond him and almost let in Frendo. The goalkeeper craftily made it look as if he was trying to get up just as Frendo "stumbled" over him. Referee Steve Tincknell fell for the old pro's trick and allowed play to continue and the chance went begging.

After 53 minutes, Dave Sargent raced down the left wing and delivered a low cross towards the near post where Frendo was lurking. His swivelled shot bobbled across the area - Dover defenders were convinced he used his hand - but fell to OFORI who knocked home the loose ball.

Hyde's temperament has been a weakness throughout his career and a Jeckyll moment should have resulted in a 61st minute penalty for Hendon. James Burgess was eased away from a through ball by Craig Cloke and both players went to ground as Hyde gathered.

There was no suggestion of a foul and Burgess picked himself up. He turned and ran back towards his midfield position, but Hyde decided to barge him in the back with his shoulder. Mr Tincknell blew his whistle, called Hyde to him, gave a long lecture, "I told him not to be a goat," the official admitted after the game, and allowed the game to restart with a drop-kick by Hyde.

It was quite clearly foul play by the goalkeeper, possibly violent conduct too, but despite stopping the game after seeing it, the referee did not award a free-kick - which would have been a penalty - or issue a caution. Questioned about this after the game, Mr Tincknell recognised he had been too lenient.

Ofori and Frendo both came close to making it 2-0 midway through the half. Clear on the goalkeeper, Ofori tried an early shot but missed the right post six inches. Frendo then fired wide from 25 yards with a snap volley after spotting Hyde out of position.

In the 84th minute Frendo finally got around Hyde, but from a very acute angle he could not find the target and slumped to the ground, the victim of cramp. He was replaced by former Barbados international Anthony Robinson, whose first contribution to the game was to receive a yellow card for a flailing arm as he flicked a header into the path of Sargent.

Dover's best spell came in the final five minutes, but Matt Carruthers could not find the target with a powerful header from eight yards and an overhead kick found the side-netting.

"I am very pleased with the way we responded to Saturday," said manager Tony Choules. "It wasn't pretty, but sometimes it is just about getting the result. Let's bring on Eastleigh and see if we can continue our run."