Hendon dealt a mortal blow to Canvey Island's hopes of winning the Ryman League Premier Division when they won 1-0 at Claremont Road on Tuesday night. The thrilling victory lifted Hendon back up to 4th in the table.

There were only 2 changes to the starting line-up following the 1-1 draw at Boreham Wood on Saturday, Gary McCann giving David Hook a breather in goal and Iain Duncan replacing Rob Hollingdale.

The day's rain had made little impression on the pitch, and the shower 10 minutes before kick-off made the top surface a little skiddy. All in all, although very bouncy, the pitch conditions were not a factor in the game. However, Hendon were fortunate in that the wind that was at their backs in the first half swung around after the break and was quite neutral thereafter.

The opening 20 minutes saw a lot of good football but both teams cancelled each other out. This was hardly surprising given that they had faced each other on each of the previous two Tuesdays. It is said that familiarity breeds contempt; in this case it was mutual respect.

In the 21st minute, Ricci Crace fed Ricardo Alves, whose pass to Martin Randall set up the striker with a shooting opportunity. It was a fine effort, but although Danny Potter was beaten, the ball didn't dip until it had passed over the crossbar.

Six minutes later, Lee Boylan appeared to nudge Mark Cooper as the pair challenged for the ball, but referee Mark Ives (Biggleswade) saw no offence. The ball fell into the path of Jeff Minton and he fired a shot that thumped against the foot of McCann's right post.

The rebound was unkind to Hendon as a bad bounce seemed certain to give Minton a tap-in for the opening goal. But he reckoned without McCann, who showed great agility and bravery in palming the ball away.

At half-time, Canvey will have been the happier because they had held out kicking into a fierce wind. However, as this wind was borne on a brief shower, once the rain abated, so did the wind. Whilst it was still a factor the Gulls held sway in terms of possession, but they could find no way past Micky Woolner, Cooper, Lee Harvey and Duncan, all of whom performed magnificently. But the star was Paul Towler, who snuffed out the playmaker Minton.

McCann may have shouted himself hoarse organising the players in front of him, but he was well positioned to make comfortable saves from a couple of free-kicks in dangerous positions. Without Lee Protheroe taking their free-kicks and corners, Canvey failed to score in one-and-a-half games at Claremont Road.

Goalscoring has been a problem for Hendon in home League games too. Going into this fixture the Greens had failed to score for 386 minutes at Claremont Road since the 64th minute equaliser against Harrow Borough in early February.

That run almost came to an end in the 74th minute when Harvey met a corner from Lee Endersby, but he was denied by a fine save from Potter. Although Canvey needed careful watching whenever they attacked, the more dangerous moves came from Hendon.

Eugene Ofori had replaced Randall and his darting runs and control unsettled Ben Chenery, Steve Ward and Ross Johnson. With the equally unpredictable Ricardo Alves playing just behind Ofori, there was an air of panic in the defenders' play.

In the 80th minute, a fine cross from Paul Yates found Crace unmarked, but he directed his shot wide of the near post. Seven minutes later Crace got in front of Ward and sent a header that had goal written all over it until Potter produced a miraculous save.

The last laugh belonged to Crace. In the 90th minute, another counter-attack left Canvey short handed in defence and this time when the ball was fed into Crace's path it was on his favoured inside right channel. Potter came off his line, but he had no chance with CRACE's excellent shot and it flew into the net.

Crace could have doubled his pleasure in the 93rd minute. In a desperate move, Potter joined the attack for a Canvey Island corner. It was won by a defender and the ball was passed out to Dale Binns, who had come on for Endersby. He passed to Crace near the touchline on halfway. He could have side-footed the ball from 45 yards into the unguarded net.

Instead he sprinted towards goal with Potter, running in a straight line, getting between him and the target. Although Potter could not set himself, he was in front of Crace when he entered the penalty area. A square pass would have given Alves a tap-in, but Crace went for glory and smashed the ball high over the bar.

"I think the better team won the game tonight," said an ecstatic Dave Anderson. "I believe we have played Canvey Island as well as anybody has this season. In 4 games, we've won 1, lost 1 and drawn 2. Tonight has shown that we can compete against the best."