Hendon's 2-0 victory over Braintree Town at Claremont Road on Saturday afternoon ensured they remain in 4th place in the Ryman League Premier Division while leaving the Iron looking anxiously over their shoulders in 22nd place.

The off-season work on the pitch ensured that although the surface was slippery and the conditions very heavy, it was definitely playable, a situation that would not have been the case 12 months earlier. In fact, despite Friday's deluge, there was not even an inspection to make sure the game went ahead.

Martin Randall and Steve Butler returned to the starting line-up - replacing Eugene Ofori and Jon-Barrie Bates, respectively - after missing the Hayes game with suspensions. In addition Kieran Gallagher was fit enough to get a place on the bench.

Braintree made a great start and should have taken the lead inside 3 minutes. A corner curled in from the right wing was won by Tommy Noble, but Ollie Berquez slipped when trying to turn the ball over the line from 3 yards out. He tried to set up Dean Parratt with pass like a rugby player handling in a ruck, but his handling was not good enough and the chance went begging - without a free-kick being given.

Three minutes later, on-loan midfielder Adrian Clarke bent a free-kick just wide of Paul Catley's left upright as Hendon's first attack ended with a clumsy challenge on Ricci Crace.

In the 19th minute, Steve Forbes received a throw-in from Iain Duncan, rode a challenge and fed Crace as he went to ground. Latching onto the pass in a flash, CRACE burst clear of Gavin Cowan and he fired inside Catley's near post, the goalkeeper leaving far too much space for the shot.

That was the end of the first-half scoring, but not the entertainment. Forbes set up Randall following a magnificent 50 metre run down the right wing, but the striker's glancing header just missed the far post. Paul Towler then blasted over from a good position,

Crace should then have had a penalty when Cowan was again caught on the wrong side as the ball came into the penalty area. Cowan stopped Crace reaching the ball by pushing him over. Amazingly, although he had a perfect view of the incident, referee Mr Sukhden Thiarra (Bedford) didn't see an offence. Stand-in skipper Towler was cautioned for quesioning the non-decision.

At the other end, a magnificent recovery tackle by Mark Cooper denied Nicky Simpson, who went to ground as his boot caught the back of Cooper's foot after the ball had been cleared. Mr Thiarra at least showed consistency by cautioning an Iron player for his protestations.

On the stroke of half-time, both teams nearly scored. First a left-wing corner from Braintree was headed away from the Hendon goal inches from the line (many fans thought the ball had hit the inside of the post). Then, at the other end, a fine break by Crace should have resulted in a tap-in for Randall, but he ballooned the ball high over the bar.

Rob Hollingdale replaced Iain Duncan for the second half, slotting in at left-back, solidifying a surprsingly jittery Hendon defence in the second half. In the 54th minute, Forbes came close to doubling Hendon's lead when he struck a free-kick off the outside of Catley's left post with the goalkeeper a mere spectator.

Paul Yates was next to waste a good opportunity, ghosting in behind the Braintree defence, but putting his effort just wide of the target. It seemed only a matter of time before Hendon got their second goal, but Braintree somehow held out.

In fact, Braintree began to enjoy a 15-minute spell of good possession. For all their pressing, however, the Iron could not smooth a way past the quartet of Micky Woolner, Butler, Cooper and Hollingdale, with Hook rarely troubled.

In the 76th minute, Ofori came on for the tiring Crace, but he had barely touched the ball before Hendon got their second goal. All the work was done by Forbes, who was absolutely outstanding on the afternoon. In cloying conditions, he had the energy and control to go 60 metres through the mud and a handful of would-be tacklers before firing in a powerful shot.

Catley made a good save, but could only push the ball out to RANDALL, who made no mistake from 10 yards out, lifting the rebound into the roof of the net. It was his last touch of the match as Rob Haworth replaced him.

Within a minute, Haworth was holding his head in embarrassment as he took a pass from Ofori, looked up to see an almost open goal and picked his spot. Unfortunately, that spot was an advertising hoarding to the left of the upright.

It wasn't the last bad miss of the game. Yates set up Ofori for a simple tap-in, but he managed to emulate Randall by blazing over the crossbar. At 2-0 up in stoppage time, fans could laugh at the miss; had the Greens been level or behind, the reaction would surely have been different.

For the amount of pressure Braintree had exerted on the Hendon defence, any more than a 2-goal margin would have been hard on them. Moments later the final whistle went, at which point, Ofori flicked an imaginary ball at the unguarded net.

"I think this was more comprehensive than a 2-0 win," said manager Dave Anderson. We are now getting our full squad back so we can afford to shuffle the pack. I would rather focus on the two goals we scored than the chances we missed."