Hendon recorded their first FA Trophy victory since 17 October 2009, when they came from behind to beat Cray Wanderers more easily than the 4-1 scoreline at Hayes Lane suggests. To be fair to the Wands, they played some very enterprising football - until the Greens equalised.

Thereafter, although Cray continued with their passing game, but they spent almost an hour chasing shadows. Hendon gave their young hosts a lesson in passing and had no answer to the physical presence of Jefferson Louis.

In response to the defeat at Dulwich on Monday, Hendon made two personnel changes to the starting line-up, Rhys Paul being left out of 16 and Aaron Morgan dropping to the subs bench. Jack Bennett and Casey Maclaren were the two to take their places.

Hendon's unfortunate habit of conceding early goals continued as Cray opened the scoring in the seventh minute. A right-wing corner from Jack Clark was carried by a sudden gust of wind and floated over Berkley Laurencin's head

Jordan Clarke came racing in but was too late to get a touch. It was not needed as the ball ended up in the side-netting just inside the far post.

Buoyed by the early goal Cray enjoyed some very good possession and Shamir Mullings was guilty of dallying as the ball came to him inside the penalty area. His hesitation allowed Hendon to clear the danger, but the warning signs weren't heeded.

Two minutes later, Tommy Whitnell, under no pressure, drilled a 25-yard shot towards the roof of the net. Laurencin arched his back and did just enough to divert the ball against the top of the crossbar and away for a corner, which came to nothing.

If Hendon's defence was looking jittery, it was no worse than the home team's rearguard. Charlie Grainger, displaying the impetuosity of youth, got away with two attempts to punch the ball clear, but paid for his misjudgement in the 27th minute.

A cross from the right wing saw the goalkeeper challenged by Jefferson Louis, but the striker realised he couldn't reach the ball so stepped aside and watched as Grainger collided with his captain Aaron Day. The ball wobbled to the edge of the penalty area where Tony Taggart took a touch and stroked the ball into the net.

After conceding their goal, Hendon bounced back well; the same could not be said of the Cray back-line, who instantly became nervous and this lack of self-belief quickly spread through the ranks. Dave Diedhiou and Carl McCluskey both spurned good openings, while Bennett and Chris Seeby created chaos with some dangerous crosses that lacked only decisive touches from green-shirted players.

Five minutes before half-time, Hendon took the lead. It was a simple goal, the ball being worked from midfield out to the right flank. Lee O'Leary and Kevin Maclaren passed in a neat triangle with Seeby.

When the ball was passed inside Anthony Bardon, Seeby easily cut past Dmitri Larin before unleashing a powerful shot from a quite acute angle 16 yards from the goalline. Grainger was unsighted by Larin's attempted block and he could only watch the ball as it flew past him into the net.

Bennett again went close before Hendon had a third goal controversially disallowed. Seconds before the interval, following a corner move, Seeby curled a cross into the penalty area. A Cray defender leapt and deflected the ball towards his own goal, where Casey Maclaren timed his run perfectly - so he thought.

His first attempt to score was thwarted by the post, but he knocked in the rebound, only to see the assistant referee's flag raised. When the ball was played into the penalty area, Maclaren was onside, but he would have been offside if the deflection had come from a Hendon player.

It was an unfortunate decision, but the older Maclaren's over-reaction, when the half-time whistle went seconds later, deservedly earned him a caution. Some fans thought his protestations had earned him a red card, but the referee, after showing the yellow card, merely sent him to the dressing room for a cup of tea with his team-mates and the management team.

As a contest, the match was effectively over barely 90 seconds into the second half. More good work down the Hendon right resulted in another cross and this time, Louis was able to plant his header off Grainger's body into the bottom corner.

That said, Cray should have made it 3-2, little more than a minute later. A speculative long-range shot bounced just in front of Laurencin, who spilled the ball down at his feet. Larin raced in and got his foot to the ball a couple of yards from the goal, but he couldn't control his contact and sent the ball high over the crossbar.

Almost nothing of note happened over the next half-hour, apart from Hendon creating countless chances, but the final ball was not quite good enough. The Greens' passing was exemplary and Cray spent much of the time chasing shadows.

It is testament to the way that new manager Keith Bird has the Wands playing, that they didn't resort to rough tactics. Indeed, there was spell of 26 second-half minutes when not a single foul was committed by either team and the only free-kicks came from the odd offside decision.

Michael Murray, Scott Cousins and Anthony Thomas took over from Taggart. Bennett and Diedhiou, and Murray and McCluskey linked well for Hendon's fourth goal, three minutes from the end of normal time.

The ball was moved between them, before Louis ran onto an astute pass. Helge Orome, who had endured a difficult afternoon against the unorthodox Louis, tried to keep up with the striker, but was brushed aside with ease.

Grainger came off his line, but Louis dragged the ball around him before rolling the ball into the empty net. It was probably a more accurate reflection of Hendon's domination, after a worrying opening 25 minutes.

Two minutes later, McCluskey unselfishly tried to feed Louis for his hat-trick, but he should have taken the chance himself and a covering defender slid in the block the ball.