Hendon stretched their unbeaten run to 8 matches with a fine 3-1 victory over Aylesbury United at Claremont Road on Tuesday night. Despite a lengthening injury list, Aylesbury had no answer to an excellent overall performance, highlighted by another brace of goals for Eugene Ofori.

Kieran Gallagher was fit enough only for a place on the subs' bench, while skipper Jon-Barrie Bates missed out altogether. Rob Hollingdale and Mark Cooper came into the side with Martin Randall joining Gallagher, Ricci Crace, Micky Woolner and Warren Kelly on the bench.

Aylesbury should have taken the lead early in the first half when a fine cross from the right wing was met by Joe Baker, but he headed wastefully over David Hook's crossbar. In the 10th minute, Rob Haworth got behind Phil Dicker, but the ball was just a little too far in front of him and he shot tamely wide.

He was distinctly unlucky not to score in the 29th minute. Haworth met a corner from Paul Yates and powered a header past Adam Wheeler. Mark Burgess was well placed on the goalline and the former Hendon man made an effective clearance.

A minute later, Haworth and Dicker flared up with the former accusing the latter of elbowing him. Referee Carl Couzens (Hitchin) tried to calm both players down, but succceeded only after he had shown both players a yellow card.

The niggles were forgotten, at least temporarily, in the 31st minute when Hendon fashioned an excellent goal. Yates slid a perfect pass towards Ofori, who had Sam Sloma at his shoulder. A dip of that shoulder and a deft turn inside Sloma put OFORI clear and his early, low shot arrowed past Wheeler's despairing dive into the bottom corner.

Four minutes later, Haworth felt he was pushed by Dicker as he rose to meet an Iain Duncan cross, but neither Mr Couzens, nor his assistant were able to judge for sure that there had been a foul.

It wasn't all one-way traffic. Aylesbury enjoyed plenty of possession and Steve Butler and Cooper were hard pressed to keep the dangerous Baker and Craig Maskell. One goalline clearance showed great calmness at a time of crisis.

Haworth was denied yet again early in the second half, this time by the crossbar when he looped a header goalwards.With just a little bit of luck and a touch more composure, he could already be in double-figures for goals this season.

In the 61st minute, Ofori again left Sloma out of position as he turned towards goal, but he could not get off a shot because the defender pulled him down. After a few moments serious consideration, Mr Couzens decided that he could not book the defender. "It was either a red card or nothing," he explained.

YATES stepped up and sent Wheeler the wrong way with a picture-perfect spot-kick. His fourth goal, temporarily as it turned out, put him top of the club's goalscoring charts.

Aylesbury began to get back into the game as the second half progressed, but their possession did not lead to many clear openings. In fact Hendon looked more dangerous on the counter-attack. Never was this more the case when a fantastic through ball from Yates was bent right into the path of Duncan, and the former Duck came desperately close to scoring against his old club with a powerful drive.

It smacked off Wheeler's near post, with the goalkeeper well beaten, and bounced right back to Duncan, whose second attempt went the other side of the goalkeeper but missed the far post by inches.

In the 88th minute, Aylesbury scored a fine equaliser when BAKER volleyed home from 15 yards, after a throw-in had been headed into his path. Although the Ducks deserved something from the game, it was certainly not a point, but suddenly they had a lifeline.

This lasted barely 90 seconds. Ofori pressurised substitute Rory Hunter, who tried to play the ball back to Wheeler. The pass was short and OFORI pounced, caressing a beautiful curling shot around the stranded goalkeeper and just inside the far post.

"At the start of preseason training, I told the players that this season was not going to be about the team, but the whole squad," said a delighted manager Dave Anderson. "We have used about 20 players already this season, and the whole squad has been brilliant. Tonight was just another example of that."