Hendon made it four straight wins with easily more important of the quartet, coming from a goal down to beat AFC Hornchurch, who remained in third place in the Ryman League Premier Division, but the Greens are now just six points behind the Urchins and they have a game in hand.

Elliott Brathwaite's suspension following an indiscretion while out on a dual registration meant he became the third centre-back unable to start - although James Fisher was named on the bench, he would only have been used in the direst of circumstances. Dave Diedhiou came into the starting 11 to replace Brathwaite.

Hornchurch made a decision to water the pitch just before kick-off and the bone-dry pitch certainly could have done with a great more water to deaden the high bounce. The other side of the coin was visible in the first half as players slipped on the slick surface especially kicking towards the clubhouse end, which Hornchurch were defending.

In the first ten minutes, both Adam Wallace and Leon Smith slipped over when about to get into potentially good positions. However, when Inigo Echepare came a cropper in the 21st minute, Hendon might have taken the lead.

The Spaniard's poor clearance, from the D of the penalty area, did not reach the edge of the centre circle, where Smith controlled the ball. He passed to Wallace, who probably should have tried shooting from 35 yards as Echepare gingerly tried to get back into his goal area.

Instead, however, he elected to run at the only defender in the area, Elliott Styles and beat him with ease. Wallace crossed low towards Smith, who swept the ball goalwards, but Echepare was back in position and he a fine sprawling save.

Five minutes later, George Purcell took the ball into the penalty area, but knocked it a little too far in front of him. Diedhiou chased back and slid in to put the ball out of play, before Purcell tumbled over him. In the modern game, if a player leaves his feet to make a challenge, he risks the chance of conceding a free-kick if there is contact - before or after the ball is played.

After barely a moment's hesitation, the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot, at which point almost every Hendon player - except the desolate Diedhiou - tried to persuade the referee to consult with his assistants, but he would have none of it.

After the referee had delivered a lecture to Diedhiou, Purcell stepped up and drilled the ball beyond Joe McDonnell's dive. Before play could resume, Hendon manager called his team over to the bench to advise them to keep their discipline.

In the 37th minute, Hendon were grateful to Jack Bennett for keeping the lead down to one. Tambeson Eyong made a run into penalty area, danced past three or four defenders before shooting towards goal. Bennett, however, had run back to defend the situation and he was perfectly placed to last the ball clear from almost on the goalline.

It took Hendon a little more than two minutes of the second half to draw level. A ball from the right wing was headed on be Lee O'Leary and fell to Michael Bryan, who immediately shaped to shoot at goal.

As a defender came across to cover, Bryan slipped the ball to Taggart. His drive was powerful and right across the body of Echepare on its way into the net, just inside the far post.

From here on, Hendon won pretty much every battle. Maclaren and O'Leary didn’t lose a challenge in the middle of the pitch, Bryan and Taggart provided width that unnerved the Hornchurch defence, who had more than their hands full trying to cope with Wallace and Smith.

Purcell and Payne are two of the Ryman League Premier Division's top four goalscorers, but Chris Seeby and Sam Flegg were utterly dominant, barely losing a challenge. McDonnell marshalled the defence in front of him with great confidence, while Eyong and Michael Spencer got no change at all out of Diedhiou and Bennett.

Just before the hour mark, Hendon took the lead, also from the penalty spot and it was also a soft one. Smith controlled the ball with his back to goal. He had Styles behind him and he desperately tried to get the ball.

However, he lowered his arms over Smith and forced the striker to go down. Urchins players were almost as angry as their opposite numbers had been a little more than an hour earlier. They got the same reaction from the referee and it was Smith who took responsibility for the spot-kick, converting with aplomb.

It might have helped the Urchins' cause if the message sent out by McCann following the first-half penalty had been followed by his opposite number. Hornchurch became increasingly testy and picked up a few yellow cards/

Four minutes after the penalty, McDonnell was nearly undone by a freakish bounce when Joey May struck an effort from just outside the penalty area. The ball landed a couple of metres in front of the goalkeeper, and turned sharply left. Although he had to react very quickly, the young goalkeeper made what seemed to be an uncomfortable save, little more than routine.

Hornchurch made two changes as they tried to get back into the game, sending on the veteran Martin Tuohy and Chris Bourne for Eyong and Billy Coyne. Hendon's response was to send on Jose Figura for Taggart and later removed both Wallace and Smith, with Anthony Thomas and Michael Murray, making cameo appearances - the latter less than 60 seconds long.

As the game moved into five-plus minutes of stoppage time, Spencer and Payne went down in the penalty area, desperately looking for a second spot-kick. The Hendon faithful had their collective hearts in their mouths, especially with Bennett's challenge on Payne which the Hendon bench felt was a surefire penalty, but on neither occasion was there a whistle, merely waves from the referee telling the players to get up.