Hendon, for the opening 30 minutes of their Ryman League Premier Division fixture against Hayes, produced their best-ever form under Dave Anderson. They led 3-0 at this stage and, although Hayes did score twice, went on to record a 3-2 victory that lifted them to 5th in the table.

Despite 2 straight defeats, the only change to the Hendon 16 was the replacement of Fabian Forde by Mark Burgess on the substitutes bench. But even more noteworthy was the fact that Hendon did not make a single substitution during the match, the first time this has happened in the 150-plus games of Mr Anderson's stewardship.

A long-range shot from David Warner in the opening 2 minutes suggested another hard afternoon for Hendon, but it was just about the only attack of note Hayes mustered in the opening 35 minutes.

The Missioners had no answer to the probings from Steve Forbes and Dwayne Plummer, who ran the game from midfield. In the 9th minute, a loose ball fell to Ricci Crace on the edge of the Hayes penalty area. He fired a shot that beat Jake Cole but flew inches over the crossbar.

Forbes and Eugene Ofori combined well in another raid, this time after 18 minutes, and when the ball was delivered to the far post, Mark Cooper brought out the best of Cole, who palmed the ball away. From the corner, Cooper got a flick at the near post and Cole did well save low down.

Cole's efforts delayed the inevitable for about 2 minutes. Ofori sent a ball out to Iain Duncan on the right wing. He cut inside and passed to Crace, who beat a defender and rolled a short ball into the path of PLUMMER who, from 16 yards, picked his spot and opened his Hendon account.

Hendon's approach play was ripping apart the erstwhile stingy Hayes defence which had conceded just 19 goals in 25 games. Two or three clearances had more than a touch of panic about them as Hendon laid siege on the Missioners' 18-yard box.

In the 28th minute, Hendon produced a goal of great beauty. About a dozen passes were involved, with the last 4 involving Jon-Barrie Bates, Duncan, Crace and Ofori. The pass to Scott COUSINS invited a strike and the former Chelsea man delivered an inch-perfect one that arrowed into the bottom corner.

Two minutes later, the lead was 3-0 with a pair of QPR juniors taking centre stage. Goalkeeper Cole was hesitant coming off his line to meet another Cousins corner and when the ball bounced in the penalty area on-loan central defender Marien IFURA lifted the ball towards the goal. A desperate attempt to keep out the ball from Paul Holsgrove, on the line, managed only to force it into the net.

The way things were going, Hayes needed something special to get back into the match. Instead they got a stroke of luck and it did the job just as well. Awarded a free-kick 5 yards from the Hendon penalty area, David Warner struck the ball off the Hendon wall and the ball rebounded into the path of Jon CASE, who was in front of the nearest defender and fired past Dave King.

In the 40th minute, a fine save from Cole denied Crace a goal, while King did likewise to keep out a long-range effort from Kevin Warner that was booked for the top corner. Cousins ended the half with another shot, but this time the ball cleared the bar.

After the break, Hayes improved their game and forced Hendon into more defensive work. However, they could not find a goal in the early exchanges, with Antony Howard, Ifura and Cooper doing well, while Bates worked exceptionally hard in front of the back 3.

In the final quarter, tempers became frayed on a number of occasions and referee Jonathan Wheeler struggled to control the game. His inconsistency frustrated both teams, especially Hendon, who could not understand why he halted a promising breakaway to lecture a pair of players who had briefly squared up to each other, but were already more concerned in the building attack.

The goal Hayes craved arrived in the 82nd minute, but there was more than a hint of controversy about it. Both Crace and Ofori appeared to be fouled as Hendon built an attack, but Mr Wheeler allowed play to continue. When the ball was passed sublimely through the middle, substitute Josh SCOTT ran onto it and fired past King.

When Bates tangled again with the malificent Yiadom Yeboah, the Hendon skipper was cautioned, though the other party was not even spoken to. Yeboah, whose antics at Church Road had led to 2 red cards and a yellow, brought his tally up to 2 yellows in this game when Ofori, who had been kicked off the ball on a number of occasions in both games, made a bad challenge on the defender.

King was kept busy, but was more than equal to the barrage of crosses delivered into the penalty area. Five minutes of stoppage time added to the Hendon nerves, but the final whistle arrived to ensure the right result was achieved.

"We were very, very good, especially in the first half," purred Mr Anderson after the game. I think the final score rather flattered Hayes, although we couldn't be as good after the break. That first half hour was as well as we have played since I came here. Dwayne Plummer was exceptional."