Hendon travelled down to the University of Bath for a friendly against Team Bath, the full-time squad of students at the university. They taught them a lesson too, especially in the art of using dead-ball situations to good effect.

The second half corner count was 8-3 to Team Bath, but Hendon scored from 2 of theirs and the third resulted in a header which went narrowly wide. And the opening goal came from a free-kick.

With Jon-Barrie Bates, Mark Cooper, Paul Towler and Keiran Gallagher all on holiday, the defence and midfield pretty much picked itself, while Ricci Crace partnered Martin Randall up front. The bench comprised Eugene Ofori, Rob Haworth, Leon Woodruffe and James Burgess.

Team Bath have completed two weeks of a five-week intensive full-time preseason regime, so their fitness was not in doubt, and they also had youth on their side - on three players were aged over 21. Additionally, almost every player had been YTS or first-year professionals at Football League clubs.

It meant that Hendon had a very stiff test, one they came through with flying colours. Midfield was an attritional battle, while the defences held sway over the opposing strike-forces.

The first near miss of the match came after 13 minutes, a shot from Lee Richardson which David Hook had covered as the ball went into the side-netting. Hendon had two free-kicks from Byron Bubb which curled over Rob Mitchell's crossbar.

Bubb's third effort was a different matter. In the 27th minute, Crace burst past Chris Holland and was hauled down by Kevin Watson in the "D" of the penalty area. The ball broke loose and Randall despatched it into the net, only for the play to be brought back to the edge of the penalty area for a free-kick. In a competitive match, Watson would surely have been sent off. BUBB struck the ball sweetly and bent it past Mitchell.

Five minutes later, Matt Lewis, who had a couple of run-outs in Cardiff City's first team in friendlies, broke clear of the Hendon defence. Hook was out quickly and the goalkeeper made a fine save to deny the Welshman.

Hook distributed the ball quickly and, within seconds, Crace was in an identical position to Lewis This time the shot beat the goalkeeper, but the ball went wide of the post.

In the 39th minute, a corner from Bubb was met by Steve Forbes at the far post. Mitchell did well to throw his body in front of the ball to keep it out. Five minutes later, Richardson tried to get clear of Pat Sappleton but the young Jamaican did enough to force the Team Bath man to shoot tamely at Hook.

The second half took half an hour to get going. Team Bath forced 4 corners, but could do nothing with them. Hendon, who had brought on Ofori and Haworth for Crace and Randall at half-time and Burgess and Woodruffe for Micky Woolner and Dale Binns after an hour, didn't really threaten their hosts.

With 20 minutes to go, a misplaced Hendon pass in midfield was pounced on by Lee Richardson. His first-time pass found Rick Smith breaking down the left wing with 3 teammates in support. Smith's cross was inch-perfect for LEWIS to sweep home from 10 yards.

Hendon hit back in magnificent style. They kept possession of the ball for about 75 seconds before a cross from Woodruffe was blocked out for a corner. Bubb's delivery was superb and HAWORTH rose high to plant a header past Mitchell.

Two minutes later Richardson broke through but he was denied by a brilliant save from Hook. Hendon quickly went up to the other end and doubled their advantage. This time Bubb's corner was met by Steve Butler. His effort was cleared off the line, but OFORI was able to knock home the rebound at the second attempt.

As the game moved into stoppage time, Team Bath laid seige on the Hendon goal, forcing a series of corners, but the defence held out well. The relief was spectacular and almost brought a fourth goal. When the ball was cleared from defence, Ofori collected it and raced in on goal.

Paul Yates did magnificently to link up with the substitute and took his pass in stride. His shot was on target, but was well saved by Mitchell, who pushed the ball aside for a corner. With Randall back on, for Bubb, he took the corner and this time Forbes header went narrowly wide.

"It was a lot harder than I expected," admitted manager Dave Anderson after the game. "They were brighter than us for much of the game, so it was a good test. Winning in a friendly is not the be all and end all, but winning is good habit to get into and I want to continue the good finish we had to last season."