Hendon slipped to the bottom of the Ryman League Premier Division (albeit on goals scored) after a calamitous second half defensive display at Enfield Town on Saturday afternoon. After conceding a goal in first-half stoppage time - cancelled out three minutes into the second stanza - the Greens leaked five goals in 18 mad minutes.

Dean Cracknell's suspension meant a recall to the starting line-up for Isaiah Rankin, while Kevin Maclaren came in for the injured Luke Gambin as Hendon were forced into two changes from the team which had done so well in holding Lewes to a goalless draw in midweek.

The first eight minutes of the game should have seen four or five goals. In the second minute, a flicked header from Greg Ngoyi, following a Scott Cousins cross, found the midriff of the perfectly-positioned Daniel East. A yard either side of the on-loan goalkeeper might well have given Hendon the lead.

Enfield responded with a great run from Tyrone Campbell and his drag-back into the path of Adam Wallace resulted a Hendon goal-kick thanks to the unmarked striker skying the ball over the bar from eight yards out. Hendon's response was a drive by Rankin which was superbly tipped aside.

Berkley Laurencin then made a fine sprawling save low down to keep out an effort from Liam Hope. In the eighth minute, Towners skipper Mark Kirby (a former Hendon player) appeared to bundle over Rankin right on the edge of the penalty area. Any penalty claims were rendered moot when the referee awarded a corner.

Over the next 35 minutes, the teams created only a very few openings, and their lack of finishing suggested this might be another goalless afternoon. Darren Currie fired just over the Enfield crossbar, while Wallace - looking suspiciously offside - had a clear run at Laurencin's goal, but the goalkeeper, and a moment's hesitation, meant that chance went begging.

Two minutes into stoppage time, Wallace attacked down the left side, crossed into the middle and Hope, completely unmarked, powered a header past Laurencin to give Enfield the lead. It was the worst time for Hendon to concede as there were barely 15 seconds left in the half.

But, following Jack Mazzone's introduction for Casey Maclaren at the interval, the Greens were level within three minutes. The ball was played into Mazzone's feet and with the defence standing off him, the substitute drilled the ball into the roof of the net from 15 yards.

Parity lasted less than two minutes as a low cross from Campbell went through the middle of the six-yard box and Michael Bardle was unmarked as he side-footed the ball into the Hendon net. Suddenly, the Hendon defence was all at sea.

Neither James Fisher nor Elliott Brathwaite had afternoons to remember as a central defensive pairing, while both Cousins and Ryan Wharton struggled to deal with attacks down the flanks. The result was a four-goal burst in 18 minutes which turned a close game into a near-rout.

Five minutes after Bardle's goal, Campbell cut in from the right wing and drilled a ball inside Laurencin's near post. In the 64th minute, a slip by Brathwaite let in Wallace and Cousins' challenge on the striker resulted in a penalty, though the close proximity of Brathwaite gave the referee more than enough evidence that it was not an obvious goalscoring opportunity, so the card shown was yellow, not red.

Hope confidently sent Laurencin the wrong way with the spot-kick to make it 4-1. And, four minutes later, Hope completed his hat-trick with looping back-header that was probably not entirely deliberate - certainly not the flight of the ball which gave Laurencin no chance as it dropped just below the crossbar and over the line.

The madness was far from over as Hendon pulled a goal back in the 70th minute. A low cross from Rankin was bundled over the line by Kirby for an own goal.

But what one captain could do, so could the other and, seven minutes later, a cross from Bardle was knocked past Laurencin by Hendon's man with the armband, Cousins. Before play could resume, Rankin and Ngoyi were replaced by Howard Hall and Belal Aite-Ouakrim and, in the closing few minutes, Hendon tried to launch a comeback.

Michael Murray was denied by a superb save from East, as was Mazzone, the goalkeeper doing well in a one-on-one. But East could do absolutely nothing about an Aite-Ouakrim special. The striker's 50th Hendon goal, on his 150th appearance, was all about his dancing feet and a smart sidefoot.

Hall then had a chance from distance and, in a goalmouth scramble, East again did well. It should be said it wasn't all one-way traffic in those final minutes and Enfield Town had at least three chances to add to their half-dozen.

"Those 18 second half minutes were as bad as I can remember for a long time," admitted a hugely disappointed Hendon manager Gary McCann. "I really didn't see that coming.

"Our central defence looked tentative and we allowed far too many balls into the area from out wide. This performance was not acceptable in any way and I will give serious thought to some massive changes."