Hendon ended their 2001-02 season with a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Enfield at LOOT Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The victory confirmed the Greens' 8th-place finish in the Ryman League Premier Division, matching the position reached in 1999-2000.

The only change to the 14 which had beaten Croydon a week earlier was the return of Paul Towler, who replaced Warren Kelly on the substitutes' bench. And, just as last week, it only took around 90 seconds for Hendon to take the lead.

A bouncing ball just outside the Enfield penalty area attracted goalkeeper Michael Kalli, as well as defender Nicky Gyoury, to deal with the danger posed by Martin Randall. The 'keeper and defender collided, leaving Randall the meat in a rather meaty sandwich.

While he suffered, his team profited. Randall lay dazed on the ground while Ricci CRACE ran onto the loose ball and stroked it into the unguarded net from 20 yards out. Enfield appealed for a foul, but seeing that Randall was the only injured party, referee Andy Legg (Sussex) overruled their protests.

The strong, gusting wind and a hard pitch, combined to make this a tedious spectacle, whilst a string of injuries stretched the first half to a total 52+ minutes.

George Gregoriou waltzed through the Hendon defence and knocked the ball past David Hook after 16 minutes. It would almost certainly have been a goal, but Jermaine Hunter wanted to make sure, so he tapped the ball over the line. Unfortunately for the Es, however, Hunter was in an offside position, so Mr Legg ruled the goal out.

In the 28th minute, Mark Burgess came close to opening his Hendon account when he timed his run perfectly to beat Enfield's offside trap to meet a cross from Dale Binns. Sadly Burgess' header was a tame effort that bounced past Kalli's left upright.

Six minutes later, another fine run from Binns resulted in a low cross which Crace reached in front of Gyoury and Kalli, but his touch was just a little too firm and he could not turn the ball inside the near post.

In the 62nd minute, Grant Cooper, who had only been on the pitch for a minute, tried his luck with a long-range shot. It was on target, but Hook was not unduly troubled, knocking the ball down from above his head before catching it on the bounce.

He released the ball quickly and found Paul Yates, just inside the Enfield half. Yates looked up and spotted Randall making a telling run.

The pass was excellent and Randall's instant control put him in with a direct run at goal with no defender to impede him. Kalli came off his line, but was a mere spectator as RANDALL delivered an inch-perfect lobbed shot that dipped a few inches under the crossbar, just inside the post.

That piece of skill was Randall's last contribution of the game, as he soon made way for Eugene Ofori - Towler had already replaced Burgess - but it had been enough to seal the 3 points.

Enfield tried to launch a few attacks, but Micky Woolner, Simon Clarke, out wide, and Steve Butler and Mark Cooper in the middle, were outstanding in defence. Butler and Cooper have been together at the back for the second half of the season and the team has conceded barely a goal a game in that time.

Jon-Barrie Bates was particularly effective in the heart of midfield and he was even able to get forward to prompt a couple of Hendon attacks, which eventually came to naught.

In the 87th minute, Marvin Walker took took up a great position and, when he received the ball, he had only Hook to beat. His shot went past the goalkeeper, but Woolner had tracked back and was able to clear the ball from the line.

That was the last threat posed by Enfield and Hendon were able to play out the final few minutes of the season safe in the knowledge they had secured a winning record (19 wins and 18 defeats) and plenty of positives to take into next season.

"It wasn't a great game," admitted delighted manager Dave Anderson, "but we battled hard and deserved to win. Martin Randall's goal was worth the admission money alone."