Hendon made it 3 away wins in 6 days when they travelled to Meadow Park and came away 2-1 victors over Boreham Wood on Good Friday afternoon. Although the Greens did not climb the table on the day, Sutton's defeat on Saturday afternoon saw Hendon rise to 10th in the Ryman League Premier Division.

Skipper Jon-Barrie Bates and central midfield partner Steve Forbes both returned to the side at the expense of injured Mark Cooper and Byron Bubb. It led to a reshuffle, with Paul Towler dropping back to partner Steve Butler in defence and Paul Yates moving to the right side of the midfield. Goalkeeper Gary McCann made his first League appearance for 330 days, giving David Hook a day off. James Burgess was named as a substitute at the expense of Leon Woodruffe.

Boreham Wood's gamble of playing on Good Friday instead of the Saturday paid big dividends at the gate. because they had their biggest home crowd since the opening day of the season. At least half of the 391 in attendance came from Hendon, an exceptional effort by the visiting supporters, notwithdanding the 40-odd group who had completed the sponsored walk from LOOT Stadium that morning.

The 391 enjoyed the first half as an exercise in sunbathing, if not watching exciting end-to-end football. Boreham Wood, clearly wary of Hendon's recent goalscoring exploits, were determined to stop Dale Binns using whatever means they could. All too often these tactics were illegal and for over an hour Binns wore a shirt with half the collar dangling behind him, the result of a shirt-pulling that brought a yellow card for Dave McDonald.

There was only one effort of note. A header from Eugene Ofori, following a corner by Micky Woolner, was blocked by team-mate Martin Randall, who could not get out of the way. Noel Imber, the Boreham Wood goalkeeper, and defender Dominic Grime were both close enough to have probably prevented a goal.

The second half was a different story. Hendon's passing became that much snappier and Boreham Wood were forced to defend even more deeply. The breakthrough arrived in the 54th minute. Forbes instigated the move, passing to Ofori. His pass to Binns gave the winger the chance to cut in and his low cross was side-footed inside Imber's near post by RANDALL.

Five minutes later, the lead was doubled. A long ball out of defence should have been easy for Lee Harvey to deal with, but Ofori somehow managed to get the better of him, flicking the ball away. He ran in on goal and as Imber came off his line to narrow the angle, OFORI curled a shot over him into the net.

In the 64th minute, Woolner was unfortunate to be cautioned by referee, Mr ALJ Wager. Woolner's crime was to dally over a throw-in, as team-mates failed to make themselves available. He was not deliberately time-wasting.

Binns tried to get his retaliation in with the ball at his feet. In the 78th minute, he sprinted away from Lamb, went past Grime and McDonald and had only Imber to beat. He decided to go for the near post and hit the side-netting.

In the 89th minute, a free-kick from Engwell was expertly curled into the penalty area, Jeran MEAH lost his marker and buried a header in the Hendon net. Four minutes later, substitute Gary Dixon miskicked with the goal at his mercy.

Hendon fans were living on their nerves as Mr Wager played on and on. He played over 7 minutes of overtime in both halves although the stoppages were not that long. After 96 minutes, Engwell's frustration at Hendon's retention of possession boiled over. Chasing for a ball with substitute Ricci Crace, he threw an elbow and Mr Wager had no hesitation in sending off Engwell.

Satisfied manager Dave Anderson admitted, "The first half was very poor, but we addressed that at half time. The two goals we scored in the second half were worth coming for alone. Our support today was fantastic."