Hendon remain in the bottom two of the Ryman League Premier Division after Lowestoft Town came out on top of Saturday afternoon’s match at Vale Farm. There is no doubt that the Trawlerboys deservedly beat a Greens team which probably was struggling to come back down to earth after the FA Cup tie at Aldershot a week earlier.

There was only one change to the starting line-up from the EBB Stadium, Luke Gambin coming for the suspended Kevin Maclaren. It was the last game of Scott Cousins' ban – "it feels like it has been a life sentence," he quipped - and the second of Elliott Charles's three.

With the festivities in the City of London just a few hours earlier and the Aldershot match a week earlier still on many minds, it was literally and figuratively after the Lord Mayor's Show for the hosts and Hendon’s defence was under pressure from the start. They should have been behind in the second minute, but Michael Frew skied a ball over the Hendon crossbar from close range.

In the 11th minute, Berkley Laurencin produced a magnificent save to keep out an effort from Chris Henderson. He tipped the ball against the top of the crossbar at full stretch.

The corner was not properly cleared and when Scott Mitchell drilled the ball low into the danger area, Henderson and Dean Cracknell arrived almost simultaneously and the ball ended up in the net. It is likely that it was the Hendon man who got the final touch but, naturally, the striker claimed the goal.

Cracknell, a hero at Aldershot, became a villain at Wembley as his challenge on Blake Saker earned him a red card, a decision that many felt was very harsh.

Hendon's best chance of the match came just before half-time when Luke Gambin got around Stuart Ainsley and he passed to Michael Murray. Murray's curling drive, reminiscent of the Laurencin save earlier, was tipped onto the top of the crossbar by Jake Jessup.

Before the game resumed for the second half, Dave Diedhiou was introduced at the expense of Belal Aite-Ouakrim, sacrificed to fill the hole in midfield.

The second half was dominated by Lowestoft, who really should have won the game far more comfortably. However, the Trawlerboys wasted a whole host of chances to extend their lead., and the chief culprit for this was Henderson, who headed wide after 55 minutes and was denied by another top Laurencin save 10 minutes from the end.

Lowestoft's defending was not entirely accomplished and goalkeeper Jake Jessup was distinctly nervous coming out for balls. Greg Ngoyi almost profited from a fumble by the goalkeeper when a Casey Maclaren cross was mishandled.

Elliott Brathwaite was penalised for a body-check on Frew, on the edge of the penalty area, but Aaron Jones curled the ball straight into the well-positioned midriff of Laurencin.

Midway through the half, Jack Mazzone and Isaiah Rankin replaced Ngoyi and Brathwaite, leaving Wharton, George McCluskey and James Fisher as a defensive three. It was still Lowestoft who continued to set the pace and Joe Francis and Aaron Jones failed to convert good goalscoring chances.

Hendon's only attack of note came with six minutes remaining, when Gambin, at full stretch, couldn't keep a header low enough to go under the crossbar. Another fumble by Jessup almost fell for Rankin, but the uncomplicated right boot of Andrew Fisk ensured the ball exited the Lowestoft danger area at great speed and height.

Hendon manager Gary McCann was not happy with the events of the afternoon, but limited his comments to, "Playing with 10 men for almost 70 minutes was always going to be difficult and I could not have asked for more from my players.

"But we started the game too slowly and let them dominate."