Hendon moved into second place in the Ryman League Premier Division with a 2-0 victory over crisis-torn Kingstonian at Claremont Road on Saturday afternoon. With Grays Athletic drawing at Harrow Borough and Carshalton Athletic losing to runaway leaders Canvey Island, Hendon leap-frogged the pair, albeit 21 points off top spot.

The match was played in a strange atmosphere, which was hardly surprising given that Kingstonian players had been threatening strike action all week and, following a meeting on the pitch before kick-off, 3 players - Grant Payne, Scott Smith and Stafford Browne - made themselves unavailable for selection. They were left with just two substitutes on the bench.

Hendon, meanwhile, brought in Jon-Barrie Bates for the injured Steve Forbes and Dale Binns for the suspended Scott Cousins. James Burgess had recovered from his bout of food poisoning and was on the bench.

Electing to kick with the bitingly cold wind at their backs in the first half, Hendon set out their stall to take advantage of what have been a somewhat distracted Kingstonian team. They should have taken the lead in the opening 30 seconds as Eugene Ofori got behind the back the Kingstonian defence and had only Lance Key to beat. He sliced the ball badly wide from 12 yards out.

In the 4th minute, Hendon did take the lead. Binns attacked down the left wing. He passed inside to Dwayne Plummer, who tried to find Pat Gavin but the ball eluded him. Anthony Savage tried to clear the danger, but succeeded only in slicing the ball back across the face of the goal. Stephen Broad positioned himself to head the ball away but didn't spot PLUMMER move in front him. The midfielder floated a calculated wind-assisted header over Key and just under the crossbar.

Credit to Kingstonian, because they bounced back from this and began to harry Hendon into errors. The Greens really failed to use the conditions well and, all too often, passes went badly astray. It made for a badly disjointed game, with little to commend it. The best chance fell to Steve Butler, who arrived at the far post to meet a Plummer corner, but he found the side netting with a free header.

At half-time, Ricci Crace was sent on in place of Gavin to liven up the Hendon attack, an indication of the dissatisfaction of the management team at the Greens' performance. It certainly had the desired effect as Hendon took control of the game.

In the 60th minute, Crace made a burst into the box and tried to get onto a flick from Ofori, only to be body-checked by Craig Lewington. Referee Carl Henry (Northampton), who had an excellent game, had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. In the absence of Cousins, Plummer took the responsibility for the kick, but Key guessed correctly and palmed the ball away and Iain Duncan's follow-up was blocked for a corner.

The decisive second goal came midway through the half and their was a hint of controversy about it. Andy Cook set up the move, which was continued by Binns, Plummer and Ofori. Key came off his line to close the angle on Ofori, who passed to Crace. Their appeared to be only one defender between CRACE and the goal as the substitute banged the ball into the net off the underside of the crossbar, but the assistant referee was satisfied Crace was onside.

More Hendon chances fell to Ofori and Crace, but they both found their paths to goal blocked by the excellent Max Hustwick, easily the Ks best player. In attack, Kingstonian rather accepted their fate and Dave King had a quiet afternoon, protected well by Antony Howard, Mark Cooper and Butler.

Indeed, with a little bit more composure in front of goal, Butler could have bagged a five-timer. He failed to hit the target with 3 presentable second-half chances and his one goalbound effort was flicked over the bar by Ofori, although Key was well placed to make the save without Ofori's intervention.

In the third minute of stoppage time, the Ks finally created a good chance, but Butler blocked David Ocquaye's shot.

Manager Dave Anderson was pleased with the outcome, if not the overall performance. He said, "We didn't play well in the first half and I told the players so in no uncertain terms at half-time. After the break we did much better and definitely deserved to win. We had to concentrate on our game and not worry about was going on with Kingstonian. I made sure the players didn't know what was happening in the lead-up to the game.

"The pleasing thing today was that fans can go home, look at the league table and see us sitting in second place. But it is like being in first place after 14 miles of a marathon; it doesn't mean anything two-thirds of the way through the season."