Hendon made it 5 League wins in 6 matches with a somewhat fortuitous 1-0 victory over Grays Athletic at LOOT Stadium on Tuesday night. The Blues, 4th in the Ryman League Premier Division, laid siege on the Hendon goal in the final 10 minutes and had a goal disallowed for offside in the stoppage time.

Micky Woolner, Paul Yates and Martin Randall all missed the match with injuries, giving recalls for Simon Clarke, Steve Forbes and Ricci Crace, causing a reshuffle in defence. Mark Burgess moved to his more natural right side to allow Clarke to play in the left; while Forbes' return moved Paul Towler to the right side too. Crace for Randall was a straight swap.

The conditions were not for the faint-hearted, on or off the pitch. A bitter wind blew straight down the rock-hard pitch, making ball control for the players difficult and keeping warm for the hardy fans almost impossible.

Hendon had the benefit of the wind in the first half, but they really didn't use it well. Melvin Capleton was by far the busier of the two goalkeepers, but he was mainly concered with racing off his line to gather through balls that blew passes intended for Crace, Eugene Ofori and Dale Binns too far in front them.

In the 17th minute, a diagonal pass from Jon-Barrie Bates almost put Forbes through, but Capleton was almost on top of the midfielder when he tried to knock the ball goalwards and was able to block the ball out for a corner. Although his handling was not 100 per cent secure, when Capleton didn't gather the ball, he was able to recover before a Hendon attacker could profit.

Grays set their stall out early. Three giant defenders across the middle of the defence were there to break up attacks and a quick pass was meant to release the speedy Mervin Abraham. The defensive part of the bargain worked well, although the attacking part rather sputtered.

Even so, David Hook was forced into an excellent save in the 34th minute. Leon Hunter shaped to shoot from the edge of the penalty area, but instead dinked a little lob into the path of Tony Lock. He was 8 yards from goal, but Hook did exceptionally well to deny him a goal.

In the 40th minute, Alan Keeper was lucky not to be booked for a spiteful trip on Forbes. From the free-kick, Binns tried his luck with a swerving shot that went around the wall. Capleton made a full-length diving save, although the ball seemed like to hit only the outside of the post or the side-netting.

At half-time, Grays would have been far the happier with the way the game had gone. But Dave Anderson's Hendon team appears to thrive on adversity. They started the second half more brightly and, 10 minutes into the half, got their reward.

A left wing cross was blown away from the goal as Capleton came for the ball. He couldn't hold it and it spilled right at the feet of CRACE. He was quick to strike a powerful shot into the roof of the net for his first goal at The LOOT Stadium.

For the next 10 minutes, Hendon continued to enjoy the better of the exchanges, but the finishing left much to be desired despite some excellent approach work. One particular effort summed up Ofori's play. He did ever so well to wriggle past two defenders to create the opening. Then he panicked and his shot never came close to troubling Capleton.

Thereafter, the game was pretty much one-way traffic, with Hendon on the defensive almost all the time. Steve Forbes and Mark Cooper had outstanding games, ably assisted by Clarke and Burgess out wide and Towler, Bates and Forbes from the midfield.

Hook produced 3 top saves and Grays wasted a number of other half-chances. But the best opportunity fell to Hunter, who miskicked with the goal at his mercy. As the game moved into injury time, Grays redoubled their efforts. A shot from the right side of the penalty area went through a crowd of home defenders before being despatched at the far post. Grays' celebrations were stilled in their throats when they noticed the assistant referee's flag raised for offside. Referee Mr N Appleby - who had an excellent game, trying to let the game flow at all times - awarded the free-kick and, a minute later, Hendon could celebrate a victory.

"After Saturday's disappointing defeat at Aldershot, it was great to bounce back against a team 4th in the League," said assistant manager Jon Turner. "Their goalkeeper made a mistake and we scored from it, but our defence played very well."