Hendon produced a magnificent second half performance to overcome Staines Town on Monday night. Despite resting three key players, the Greens still came from 2-0 down to reach the semi-final on the Middlesex Senior Cup.

There were four changes to the Greens' starting 11 as James Fisher, Kevin Maclaren and Tony Taggart were given the night almost off - they were on the subs bench but not used - and Sam Flegg, Dave Diedhiou and Michael Murray came into the team. The other alteration saw Jefferson Louis return from suspension, relegating Anthony Thomas to the bench, from he has proved so potent.

Staines, like Hendon, treated as a serious competitive fixture. Their 16-man squad from Saturday's League fixture showed only one change and seven of the 11 starters at Ebbsfleet United were on the pitch at kick-off here.

In fact, the only newcomer to the squad was former Hendon starlet, Jerel Ifil. He left Claremont Road as a 16-year-old, after just two first-team games, when Watford signed him in early 1999. Still only 31, and with more than 200 Football League appearances to his name, Ifil is Staines' top appearance-maker so far this season, so his absence on Saturday was notable.

Hendon are well used to all weather pitches, having trained on them for some time now and also played a competitive match on the surface against Maidstone United just a few weeks ago. The Greens passed the ball round very well and had a couple of half-chances to take the lead in an excellent opening 35 minutes.

In the 39th minute, Staines took the lead. An errant pass in midfield was picked up by Max Worsfold, who ran through the Hendon midfield. Lee O'Leary - who celebrated his 200th Hendon appearance on Saturday and was made captain for the night - pulled out of a challenge which would almost certainly have earned him a booking - and Flegg could not slow down Worsfold.

Casey Maclaren came across to deal with the danger, just as Worsfold shot at goal. The ball took a huge deflection off Maclaren and looped over Ross Fitzsimons to make it 1-0.

Within two minutes, the advantage had been doubled. There was some similarity in the goal as, once more, it came from long-range. This time, however, it Louie-Rae Beadle who made the run and he was able to score from 20 yards without a Hendon player getting a serious a challenge on him.

On the stroke of half time, Louis burst into the penalty area, only to be upended by a Staines player. It looked like a certain penalty - and would have resulted in the Staines man being red-carded - but the referee ruled the challenge to be legal.

Many teams would have packed their tents after playing so well for so long and finding themselves two goals behind at half-time. Not this Hendon team. They showed fantastic resilience and had levelled matters less than 15 minutes into the second half.

The first goal came in the 50th minute and it was a superb team goal. Hendon passed the ball around midfield and were probing for an opening. O'Leary spotted it and released Murray who ran into the penalty area. As Kyle Merson came off his line, Murray dinked the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net.

The equaliser came in the 58th minute. Louis was released by an astute ball from Michael Bryan, got the better of his marker and after angling his run towards goal, let fly from 25 yards. Reminiscent of his goal against Leiston in December, the ball was bent magnificently past Merson and into the top corner of the net.

Both teams continued to play enterprising football and there was no way of telling which was from the higher level. After running himself to a near standstill for 70 minutes, Leon Smith was given a breather and Thomas replaced him.

It was the last thing the tiring Staines wanted to face: another big, strong and fast striker, whose touch and control are of the highest order.

With five minutes to go, Hendon grabbed their winner. Thomas was sent forward and he dribbled around the first defender on his way into the penalty area. Another unheralded part of Thomas's game is his shooting, something that Turner found to his cost as Thomas rifled the ball into the far corner.

Almost immediately after the winning goal had been scored, Max McCann replaced Murray. It ensured not only that the rested players didn't see any action, but also that he got more valuable time on the pitch, though McCann did pick up a caution.

Staines were not finished and they came within an inch or two of forcing extra-time. Just as in the recent win at Billericay, Hendon escaped a last-gasp equaliser when a shot beat Fitzsimons, but not the crossbar. The fell kindly for Hendon and the last moment of danger was averted.