Hendon ended their six match winless run in some style on Saturday lunchtime, defeating Canvey Island 1-0 at Vale Farm. The Ryman League Premier Division victory partially avenged the 4-0 drubbing the Greens suffered in the FA Trophy at Park Lane three weeks earlier.

Three players made their first Hendon starts, James Fisher, Frank Sinclair and Darren Currie, the latter two with more 1,300 appearances for Football League and Premier League clubs, while Elliott Godfrey also returned after missing almost a month with an injury.
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For Currie, it was a return of sorts, because he was a member of the Greens' very successful Under-18s team that played in the early 1990s, before he joined West Ham. Sinclair has appeared on football’s biggest stage, being a Jamaica "Reggae Boy" at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In fact, with Elliott Charles and Godfrey, three different CONCACAF internationals were in the line-up, Godfrey (Canada Under-23), Charles (Grenada full) and Sinclair.

With so many new faces, Mauro Vilhete was making only his second appearance for Hendon, on loan from Barnet, it is hardly surprising that the Greens were not as fluid as they might have been in the opening 15 minutes. That said, Sinclair brought a calming presence to the Hendon defence and suddenly James Parker, Scott Cousins and Ryan Wharton all looked much more assured.

Canvey's potent strike force of Jason Hallett and Danny Heale, usually complemented by the runs of Rob King was starved of possession and they were kept so quiet that Hallett and Heale were replaced before the midway point of the second half. In fact, in the first half, Hallett had two runs towards Sean Thomas's goal and Heale one, but none of them came close to opening up the Hendon defence.

It was a different story at the other end, where Vilhete had a field day. Ashley Dumas had an afternoon to forget as the 18-year-old - who wasn't even born when Sinclair began playing in the Premier League - went past him inside and out, pretty much as he pleased.

The one down side of the first half for Hendon was that they created six excellent openings, five from Vilhete runs and only once was James Russell forced to make a save. On a couple of occasions, it must be said, Vilhete had little in the way of options in front of him, but when he did have two or three players to find, he failed to do so.

His first run, after 21 minutes, was the best. He beat Dumas, dragged Steve Sheehan out of position but then lobbed the ball gently into Russell's arms. It was almost as if Vilhete had too many options and changed his mind just as he was about to shoot or cross and ended up doing neither.

A run into the penalty area by King saw the Gulls' penalty-taking ace collide with Cousins, but the penalty appeals from Canvey players were waved aside. Their only other moment of hope came when ball came outside the penalty area to Kevin Dobinson, but with Thomas not in position after punching clear, his shot flew high over the bar.

At half-time, Hendon made a substitution, Charles making way for Isaiah Rankin, another player with bags of experience. Charles had done a lot of running with little end-product, but he felt a tightness in a muscle and rather than risking him doing further damage, he was withdrawn. It proved to be an inspired change.

A little over two minutes into the second half, with Currie and Vilhete having swapped flanks, Currie and Parker worked the ball well and it was rolled to Godfrey. He looked up, saw Rankin making a run and delivered a slide-rule pass into the former Arsenal and Bradford City striker.

The ball was brought under instant control and as Russell came off his line, Rankin rolled the ball past him. For once a little bit of luck was on Hendon's side because the ball kissed the inside of the far post, rolled most of the ball back along the goalline and ended up nestling inside the near-post side-netting.

The expected Canvey Island fightback never materialised. Dave Diedhiou and Fisher were immense in the centre of midfield, dominating play and Currie and Vilhete demanded attentive marking whenever Hendon were in possession, so the Gulls were unable to flood forward as is their wont.

Indeed, Andrew West had more difficulty with Vilhete than Dumas had, and his caution for a cynical trip came 25 yards from the Hendon goal, but it was the only way West knew of slowing down his opponent.

With only a one-goal lead, Hendon fans were distinctly nervous, but all of the good chances were still coming from the Greens. Vilhete probably should have scored a hat-trick and Rankin at least one more. The latter fired inches wide from a good position, then changed his mind about shooting - Fisher was well-placed, too - but the ball went between the near post and the midfielder, allowing Canvey to escape again.

Russell was beaten by one Vilhete run, but three defenders got back quickly enough to block his shot and the goalkeeper also produced a superb save to deny Vilhete.

Carl McCluskey and Belal Aite-Ouakrim came on during the second half for Godfrey and Vilhete, and both wasted good chances to extend the lead. But Hendon fans' worries were needless, because it seemed that Canvey had become resigned to their fate some time before the final whistle blew.

"I thought the new players were excellent," said manager Gary McCann. "They brought out an extra 20 percent from everyone. Frank Sinclair was immense in defence and he improved the players around him, while Darren Currie didn't waste a pass all afternoon.

"Today we looked much more like we did at the start of the season."