Hendon set up a local derby with Wingate & Finchley after they overcame Arlesey Town, 2-1, in the 3rd round of the Bryco Cup at Claremont Road on Tuesday night. Despite being a goal behind at half-time, having not played particularly well, the Greens were very comfortable winners.

In a much reshaped Hendon side, Kieran Gallagher and Dale Binns were given starting roles wide in midfield as Jon-Barrie Bates and Paul Yates patrolled the middle, while Paul Towler was part of reshaped defence, alongside Steve Butler, with James Burgess and Iain Duncan at full-back. Ricci Crace partnered Eugene Ofori up front. Steve Forbes and Micky Woolner were on the bench, alongside Rob Haworth, Jaymie Kelly and Simon Huggett, meaning that Mark Cooper and Martin Randall were given the night off.

There had been few moves of note before, in the 19th minute, Burgess made a rash challenge on Dean Harding as the tricky striker took the ball away from goal. Referee Paul Vosper had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. HARDING picked himself up and duly converted the spot-kick.

Another mistimed Burgess tackle on Harding near to the corner flag gave Arlesey another chance from a set-piece, but this time they could not do much with it. However, it was indicative of Hendon's inability to get going and Burgess was fortunate not to be booked.

Martin Patching produced an excellent save to deny Gallagher a goal in the 28th minute as Hendon finally began to exert pressure on the visitors' defence. Andy Theodosiou had an interesting evening. He produced two copybook tackles, first to deny Crace, then to stop Ofori, but he rather blotted his copybook with a pair of awful backpasses that led to Hendon corners.

By half-time, Hendon were in the ascendancy, even if a goal did not necessarily seem imminent. Maybe the biggest disappointment of the half was the performance of Binns, who looked tentative. But Hendon fans may have been expecting too much from the player who has yet to regain full fitness following his major groin surgery in October.

Forbes replaced Binns at half-time causing a reshuffle in midfield: Yates went to the right side, Gallagher to the left, while Forbes resumed his central partnership with captain Bates. The difference was obvious almost immediately as Hendon took a stranglehold of the game. Burgess rattled the bar with 25-yard drive after 52 minutes.

The equaliser, when it came in the 59th minute, may have had a touch of fortune, but it was certainly deserved. Arlesey struggled to deal with a run from Ofori and when Matt Corbould attempted to clear the ball, CRACE stuck up a leg. It came off his boot and flew past a startled Patching on its way into the net.

Arlesey also struggled to deal with Gallagher's dead ball kicks and that was the route by which Hendon sealed the tie. In the 72nd minute, he went for the far post variation from a corner. Forbes rose well and headed the ball goalwards. Whether it would have gone in or not will never be known, because TOWLER diverted the ball into the net with a simple header from a yard out.

In the 80th minute, Hendon suffered a blow when Forbes suffered a hamstring injury and he was quickly withdrawn from the fray and on came Haworth. It necessitated another reshuffle, with Crace dropping back to right midfield and Yates reverting to his earlier central role.

Even with all the changes in formation, Hendon were comfortably in control and David Hook was little more than a spectator for most of the half. On the rare occasion when the ball did come close to him, Hook was confident in dealing with it.

"We didn't play well in the first half," admitted manager Dave Anderson after the game, "but we sorted it out for the second half. Even so I didn't think we deserved to be behind at half-time, and we totally dominated after we had a chat in the dressing room."