Hendon came out on top of the Ryman League clash between the Premier Division third and fourth favourites, the 2-0 victory of Hayes suggesting that at least one of those teams had been overrated by the oddsmakers.

As good as Hendon were, Hayes were awful. Nothing sums up their weakness better than the fact that David Hook's brave dive at the feet of Ian Hodge in the 93rd minute was his first action of note, other than catching or punching crosses.

The credit for this has to go to the defence which was outstanding. In the middle, Mark Cooper and Steve Butler were outstanding, while full-backs Micky Woolner and Iain Duncan limited Hayes out wide. They were ably assisted by Jon-Barrie Bates (replaced at half-time by Paul Towler), Paul Yates and Steve Forbes, who grabbed hold of midfield and strangled Hayes' hopes of building attacks.

Bates and Ricci Crace were the two changes from the previous week's disappointing draw with Enfield, coming in for Kieran Gallagher and Eugene Ofori, respectively, as manager Dave Anderson lived up to his promise of using the whole squad to do specific jobs for different opponents. The moves worked superbly.

It took just 5 minutes for Hendon to create their first great opening. A cross from Yates found Forbes unmarked 10 yards from goal. He had a free header but mistimed his leap and the ball looped over Sean O'Connor's crossbar.

Two minutes later, the miss was forgotten as Hendon took the lead. Dale Binns was fouled 5 yards from the angle of the penalty area. Yates curled in the free-kick and Mark Cooper headed the ball into the net as O'Connor stayed rooted to his line.

Hayes' defence was at full stretch but a mixture of poor finishing, fortuitous deflections and some important interventions from O'Connor kept the score to 1-0 at the break.

The goalkeeper twice denied Crace, in both the 37th and 45th minutes, plunging at his feet, but the striker really should have done better with the former chance, after he was set up by Martin Randall, who enjoyed his battle against his old club.

In the 54th minute, Crace found himself with another opening and this time he struck a powerful drive from 15 yards. O'Connor reacted quickly and pushed the ball away for a corner. The goalkeeper was then relieved to watch efforts from Binns and Randall fly wide of his posts.

Hayes' first opening of the second half came in the 61st minute, but from a good position Justin Cochrane dragged his shot 10 yards wide. It served as a warning to Hendon that the game, although comfortably in hand in terms of possession and domination, was not secure so long as their lead was only one goal.

That was remedied in the 68th minute when Hendon doubled their advantage. Binns curled in a corner and Randall was first to react, flicking the ball into the net with a neat header. His joy was clear to see.

Yates had a great chance to make it 3-0 when he found himself with a clear run at goal. Unselfishly, he decided to pass to Crace, rather than shooting, and the striker was unable to convert the chance.

Randall was replaced by Ofori for the final 10 minutes and the substitute was quick to put the tiring Hayes defence under pressure. He fired a shot just wide, then ran onto a through ball, but it bounced a little higher than expected and he could not keep his attempt down. To the amusement of the fans around the ground, he acknowledged his miss with a somersault celebration.

"It was the other side of the coin from last week," said a delighted Mr Anderson. "It was a comprehensive 2-0 victory and I thought we were very good value."