Hendon's sixth win in eight Ryman League Premier Division matches in 2013 was achieved at Bury Town on Tuesday night. The Greens scored two cracking goals to move into the top half of the table for the first time this season.

A goalkeeping crisis meant that manager Gary McCann came very close to putting on his gloves for the 197th time in Hendon colours, but the re-registration of Mo Maan meant that he could sit in the dugout and watch the former Met Police stopper do his thing. Two other changes saw Dave Diedhiou take over from the injured Howard Hall and Belal Aite-Ouakrim come in for the unavailable Jack Connors.

Hendon took the lead in the eighth minute with a brilliant individual goal from Junior Morias. He was far too strong for the giant centre-half Adam Tann and, having got clear of him, stunned Marcus Garnham with a precise shot. Garnham's reaction was to berate his team-mate for allowing the teenager to have his way with him.

Bury were given very few sights of goal, as Diedhiou, Scott Cousins, Sam Flegg and Elliott Brathwaite were again outstanding, ably assisted by Kevin and Casey Maclaren acting as shields in front of them. Maan had little do, but everything he did face was dealt with competently and unfussily.

Lee Angol and Dean Cracknell were far more creative going forward from midfield than their Bury counterparts so the likelihood of the next goal was always at the target protected by Garhnam. However, whilst the game remained at 1-0 to Hendon, there was always the chance that a moment of inspiration from the hosts or a slip by the visitors would see advantage taken away.

With seven minutes remaining, the points were made safe by Hendon. It came from a most unlikely source, the boot of Kevin Maclaren. Depending on whose account could be believed, the younger Maclaren was between 25 and 40 yards from the goal (in a few weeks' time Kevin will assure you he had been standing in Norfolk) when he let fly.

Garnham did his best, but got nowhere near the ball as it flew into the top corner of the goal. It was a stunning strike, considered by the home fans, used to seeing plenty of them, one of the best goals at Ram Meadow in many years.

In the last 12 minutes James Fisher (for Aite-Ouakrim), Isaiah Rankin (for Morias) and Carl McCluskey (for Angol) all came on and it would have been a perfect evening for Hendon if the game had ended 2-0. However, with almost the last kick of the match, John Sands pulled a goal back.

There was no chance of Bury picking up an entirely undeserved point because, within a few seconds of the restart, the referee blew the final whistle.

"This was another very calm and assured performance by everyone tonight," said McCann. "I thought we were in control for almost all of the game and we scored two fantastic goals.

"At one o'clock, I thought I would have to put on the gloves again because Sean Thomas was studying for his final exams and couldn’t get away, and many other clubs were unable to help us out. Thanks to Mo Maan, I didn't have to come out of retirement and he did well."