Hendon completed their preseason schedule with a third defeat in 7 games, this time at the Moat Ground, home of Dr Martens (Southern) League West Division Gresley Rovers. This was really a game Hendon should have won comfortably but, again, the story was a litany of missed chances.

In the 8th minute, Martin Randall was set up by a superb run and low cross from Eugene Ofori, but the striker casually side-footed the ball wide of Mark Shiels upright. Rovers had no answer to the control and direct running of Ofori and it was no surprise that he played a big part in the opening goal, in the 11th minute.

The young Ghanaian ran at Matt Smith and left trailing in his wake as he cut into the penalty area. Instead of shooting, Ofori squared the ball to Dale BINNS, who struck a sweet-first time shot just inside the far post.

Having got the confidence of an early goal, Hendon should have built on it, but Andy Cook and Binns both scuffed shots from good positions. Even so, it seemed only a matter of time before the next Hendon player got his name on the scoresheet. The goal came in the 21st minute and it was both surprising and disappointing.

The surprising thing was that it was Jamie Burgess who scored; and disappointingly, it was in the wrong net. A long and aimless diagonal ball Carl Timms was likely to go out of play for a throw-in or goal kick, but goalkeeper Dave King called for the ball and Burgess instead of cushioned a gentle header back to his No. 1, met the ball full on from 20 yards and it flew over a bemused King into the roof of the net.

If Hendon had been kicking uphill in the first half, the chances are Burgess' embarrassment would have been limited to the concession of a corner kick. Instead, Gresley were back in the game and they took full toll.

In the 34th minute, Craig Hopkins collected a short pass 35 yards from goal, but no midfielder tracked back to close down the man in possession. When HOPKINS got to within 25 yards of goal, and with a clear sight of the target, he let fly, beating King all ends up.

It took until the 44th minute for Hendon to hit back. Scott Cousins' free kick was headed away from goal by Richard Wardle, but Randall was the only player to realise it was not going out of play.

He controlled the ball near the edge of the penalty area and curled in a deep cross which eluded every Rovers defender, but Cook appeared just beyond the far post and he guided a low header back across Shiels.

In the broiling heat, Gresley had a distinct advantage in naming 8 substitutes to Hendon's 4, and 2 of the Greens' contingent started the second half, Ricci Crace replacing Ofori and Iain Duncan coming on for Burgess. For Rovers, Andy Bourne and Carl Slater took the places of Neil Kitching and Timms, respectively.

The second half saw Hendon dominate play even more than in the first half, but the finishing was again substandard. A great run by Steve Forbes took him through 3 Gresley defenders, but he rushed the shot and it whistled over the crossbar. A few inches lower and it would have been a spectacular goal.

Randall took a knock on the ankle as he fired in a shot, but the referee (Mark Edwards from Church Gresley) awarded a goal-kick, deciding there was neither a foul, nor a touch from a defender, though one must have happened.

Haworth soon replaced Randall and he should have restored Hendon's lead in the 66th minute. He was a very fortunate recipient of a free-kick just outside the penalty area after Ian Bluck had apparently won a clean tackle and only made inadvertent contact with Haworth after the ball had gone.

Cousins curled the ball over the Gresley wall, but was unlucky to see it rebound off the right post. There was little bad luck in Haworth's attempt to sweep home the rebound; he failed to steady himself and was off balance as he ballooned the ball over the bar.

Dave Hunt (for Cousins) was Hendon's last change, but Gresley made a number more, including Nathan Tate replacing Jamie Barrett and Liam Hebberd - the son of former Football League star Trevor - taking over from Earle Alexander, who had got little change out of new signing Richard Evans.

Shaun Kidson then came on for Chris Gray, leaving just 4 outfield players from Rovers who had been on for the full 80 minutes. And it was the fresh-legged Kidson and Hebberd who combined for the winning goal, with the latter doing all of the hard work.

Kidson's crossfield pass saw Steve Butler and Hebberd jumping together. Hebberd just about won the challenge, but Butler stumbled on landing, leaving the Gresley substitute with a clear run at goal. King came off his line to narrow the angle, while Mark Cooper tried to get back and cover for his defensive colleague.

After a quick look up, Hebberd, who has yet to put pen to paper for Gresley, delivered an inch-perfect lob that went over King and dropped just under the crossbar, inches in from the far post. It was a magnificent goal, which saw the Rovers chairman muttering, "I have got to get him to sign for us."

Hendon tried to get another equaliser, but exhaustion had taken over. Haworth admitted to feeling drained even before he came on early in the second half, simply overcome by the excessive heat. Absurdly, given the oppressive conditions and the fact that it was a preseason friendly, the replacement players should have been allowed to sit under cover in the stand.

Greens manager Dave Anderson was not happy with the outcome, nor with the overall performance. He said, "We have not played well in either penalty area throughout the preseason and we will be working on this during the week.

"If we play like that next week, when the League season starts, we won't win games. We have to be more clinical in front of goal and more solid in defence.

"There are a number of positives to take from the game, but overall I was disappointing. Of course, it takes time for new players to bed in to our system, but we should have been better."