Hendon took over clear ownership of third place in the Ryman League Premier Division with a hard-fought 2-1 win over strugglers Billericay Town at New Lodge on Tuesday night.

The performance wasn't as comprehensive as in any of the Greens' other wins in this 4-game streak, but the battling qualities they showed offered a glimpse of the growing maturity of the team.

There were no changes to the team from the one which had run themselves to a standstill against Grays on Saturday and maybe the sluggish start was a result of their exertions 3 and 6 days earlier.

For all of their early possession and pressure, Billericay had nothing to show for it. Dave King had to pick up a header that was bouncing towards the near post after 5 minutes, but everything else was snuffed out by the outstanding back 3 of Marien Ifura, Mark Cooper and Antony Howard.

After 11 minutes, Billericay received a warning that Hendon meant business when they attacked. Scott Cousins and Steve Forbes set up Dwayne Plummer who rifled a shot past Luke Weaver, but the ball flew inches over the crossbar.

Midway through the half, the Hendon bench made a tactical change, moving Plummer into a slightly different role and it soon balanced out the gap in possession. More importantly, it led to Hendon's opening goal.

After 28 minutes, Eugene Ofori sprinted down the left wing, outstripping former Hendon player Pat Sappleton. He crossed low towards the far post from near the goal-line and the ball reached PLUMMER, who smacked it past Weaver with aplomb.

It took Billericay just 5 minutes to get an equaliser and it was certainly deserved. They built up well down the left wing and when the ball was crossed, a header sent the ball into the path of Leon HUNTER who knocked it past King.

Hendon's winner arrived four minutes into the second half. Iain Duncan, who had been quiet in the first half, made his first real foray into the Billericay half and his low cross was turned out for a corner by Sappleton, who was only a foot away from scoring an own goal.

Cousins took the corner and Pat Gavin got to it first, flicking it towards Andy Cook. Nobody had covered the big midfielder, so he tried a shot from 18 yards. Whether the ball would have gone into the net was rendered moot as OFORI stuck out a boot and made sure it crossed the line. Gary Henty, standing next to Weaver on the goalline, appealed vainly for offside, an impossibility given his position.

Billericay tried hard to get back into the game, but either the final ball wasn't quite good enough or the Hendon defence held firm. Mention must be made of one outstanding save by King, on the hour mark. He flung himself to his right to keep out a rasping drive from Graeme Tomlinson.

The introduction of Dale Binns, for Plummer, midway through the half saw Hendon slightly change their formation and the substitute gave Dave Reddington a few problems. One low cross went inches behind Gavin and was scraped away by a grateful Sappleton.

In the final few minutes, Billericay won a couple of free kicks around the penalty area, but the wall blocked one Tomlinson kick and the other was headed clear.

Former Hendon player Andy Polston, now assistant manager at Billericay, was very disappointed but admitted that the difference between the two teams was in the quality of defending, while Dave Anderson said, "This is not an easy place to come and get 3 points. We had to prove to ourselves that we can play a different type of football."