Hendon eased into the last 276 of the FA Cup with Budweiser (second round qualifying) with a 3-0 victory that was not quite as comfortable as the final scoreline suggests. That said, after going behind just past the half-hour mark, hosts Potters Bar Town did not make Berkley Laurencin work particularly hard with any attempts on goal.

Laurencin was one of three changes from the Hendon starting line-up from the tie on Saturday with James Fisher and, most significantly, Darren Currie coming into the starting 11 at the expense of the injured Sean Thomas and Howard Hall and Jack Mazzone, who dropped to the bench. Murray was played as a lone striker.

Through the open door of the home dressing room, the Scholars were warned to watch out of for a fast Hendon start, and it was they who took early control, without actually doing a great deal to unsettle the Greens' defence. And Potters Bar's over-commitment to attack nearly cost them in the ninth minute.

A break from defence by Hendon saw Scott Cousins in an advanced position, cutting in to the penalty area. He could have shot but instead laid the ball back to just outside the box where the chance - from open play - was lost because of a foul challenge.

The free-kick was drilled through a hole in the defensive wall, but Ed Thompson produced an excellent save to palm the ball away.

For the next 20 minutes, the Scholars asked all the questions. Even with five midfielders in front of the back four, Hendon could not keep possession and the pressure built up. In the main, Fisher, Ryan Wharton, Wayne Walters and Scott Cousins were able to shut down space before Scholars players could get a clear sight of goal, and there was a lot of passing around the edge of the Hendon penalty area.

Against the run of play, the next attempt on target actually came from Hendon. Dean Cracknell tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area, but he found Thompson in top form and this was probably an even better save than the one from the free-kick a dozen minutes earlier

Potters Bar, it must be said, left their shooting boots at home, because only on one occasion did they actually take accurate aim when given a clear sight of goal. Then Laurencin made a superb save from Rob Magwood and Ryan Wharton completed the clearance.

In the 32nd minute, Hendon kept onto the ball, made a quick-counter attack and scored the opening goal. Scott Shulton collected the ball just inside the Scholars half and ran at the back-tracking defence. Forced a little to his right, no defender was able to get in a challenge before Shulton fired an angled low drive which arrowed into the bottom corner. Thompson's dive was in vain and it appeared that he had over-committed to his near post, giving Shulton the angle to shoot.

Five minutes later Anton Agdomar was shown a yellow card for a bad foul on Shulton. Once the ball was cleared from the free-kick and Shulton returned to the fray after receiving treatment, he was again fouled by Agdomar, this time a chest-high kick that required further work from Mark Findlay. The offender received no sanction for the second foul.

Just before half-time, Shulton almost exacted revenge when he headed a ball from the right side. It would almost certainly have gone into the net had not a defender got his own head to the ball and lifted against the crossbar. The rebound went the Scholars' way and the ball was hurriedly cleared from danger.

Two minutes into the second half, Hendon enjoyed more success down the right flank and they should have extended their advantage when the ball fell at Murray's feet. He was thwarted by Thompson, but Murray might have been able to profit by getting off a shot more quickly.

Once again, Hendon had to live a little on their nerves in the next dozen or so minutes. However, Kevin and Casey Maclaren effectively formed an extra barrier in front of the back four and whilst Potters Bar continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession and position, they did almost nothing with it.

As it turned out, the tie was settled in the 59th minute. A Hendon attack saw Shulton, Currie and Cracknell all get into good positions in support of Murray and the Scholars' defence did not know which one to pick up. The result was a pass from Shulton to Cracknell, whose shot flew past the helpless Thompson.

In the 67th minute, Hendon made a double substitution, an attacking move, as Greg Ngoyi and Mazzone replaced Kevin Maclaren and Murray. Potters Bar countered by replacing right-back Alex Bolt with striker Liam Coles, but the move, borne out of desperation, had the opposite effect because Currie was given acres of space to operate down the Hendon left flank and he had two eager strikers willing to feast on the tasty morsels offered from his left foot.

Thompson produced two outstanding saves in the first five minutes Ngoyi was on the pitch, denying the striker both times while Mazzone tried to set up his strike partner when selfishness was the better option.

When Jerome Federico took over from Cracknell with 13 minutes of normal time remaining, Hendon effectively stretched the pitch out wide and Potters Bar were forced two withdraw a couple of attacking options to shore up the leaking midfield, especially in wide positions. The Scholars did manage half a dozen shots at Laurencin's goal, but all were off target, a couple by significant margins.

Hendon could have easily added a couple more goals to their tally as time wound down with Shulton and Mazzone unfortunate to be undone by balls that bounced higher than they expected.

Nevertheless, with the last kick of the match, goal number three arrived. Currie, who had toyed with the home defence in the previous ten minutes, played a short pass to Mazzone. He rifled the ball past Thompson, who was still berating his defenders in front of him when the final whistle blew.

Hendon manager Gary McCann said, "I am pleased to have got the win even if I am not completely happy. There is now something to build on.

"We were more together tonight, although there were a few hairy moments at 0-0 and 1-0 in the first half. Our confidence is fragile and it doesn't take much to knock it.

"It is a win a we can take lots of positives from that."