Hendon moved up to second place in the embryonic Ryman League Premier Division table on Tuesday night following their 2-1 victory at bottom of the table Horsham.

Gary McCann made just one change to the starting line up after Kevin Maclaren failed a late fitness test, Jamie Busby replacing him. Scott Cousins took Busby's place on the bench.

There was a former Hendon favourite in the crowd, as Peter Slade, who played for the club from 1963 to 1965, was present as he now lives in Horsham.

The Greens started very brightly and their first chance came as early as the fourth minute when Belal Aite-Ouakrim made a good run, but was disappointed to see his shot fly narrowly wide of the target.

Four minutes later, a cross from Craig Vargas was headed wide by Jamie Busby. At the other end, Horsham saw a headed effort from a corner well saved by Berkley Laurencin.

Horsham then had a free kick, around 25 yards from goal, from which Allan Tait saw his header hit the crossbar and bounce away to safety. Hendon then launched an attack that involved Casey Maclaren, Eddie Munnelly, Lee O'Leary and Vargas which eventually set up Aite-Ouakrim, but the Moroccan's shot flew over the bar.

Unfortunately Munnelly's involvement in the match then came to an end has he had strained his hamstring. Danny Dyer replaced him.

Hendon took the lead in the 35th minute in slightly bizarre circumstances. A through ball from Lee O'Leary was completely misjudged by Horsham's keeper Mark Zawadski, and the ball bounced clear for Lubomir Guentchev to score into an empty net.

Within 90 seconds, Horsham were level, when an uncharacteristic hesitation from Laurencin allowed Tait to take possession of the ball, and he also was able to score into an unguarded net.

Just before half-time Busby took a free-kick from 25 yards, but his effort went comfortably over the bar.

The second half began quietly. Whilst both sides played some good passing movement, very little in the way of chances was created until Guentchev and Aite-Ouakrim linked up well, but the latter's shot was wide of the goal. Meanwhile, Horsham also had a half-chance when Tait headed over the bar.

In the 63rd minute Horsham made their first substitution when Gary Charman replaced Dean Wright. This was Charman's first appearance for the Hornets since the nasty injury he sustained at Vale Farm last season and he was greeted by huge cheers from the Horsham supporters.

Just after Charman's introduction, Aaron Morgan made a good run into the box, and he fired off a shot that was heading for goal. However, Hornets skipper Ben Andrews was on hand to clear the ball off the line.

As the second half continued, Hendon took more and more control of the game, and the home defence became more and more panicky. In the 71st minute Casey Maclaren, Guentchev and Aite-Ouakrim put a good move together, and the shot from the Moroccan was deflected wide for a corner. Five minutes later Horsham had a chance of their own when a low cross was sent wide by Pat Harding.

The crucial winning goal came in the 81st minute. Aaron Morgan made a run into the penalty box and was fouled by a defender. The referee immediately pointed to the spot and Busby stepped up and cooly converted the spot kick, scoring his first goal of the season in the process.

The Greens were able to hold on comfortably for the remaining few minutes to secure the three points that took them up to second place in the table.

Assistant manager Freddie Hyatt was delighted after the game saying "I thought we worked really hard tonight and the boys put in another decent performance. We now need to continue in the same vein and build on our excellent start to the campaign."