Hendon produced a solid second half performance to see off the resistance from Bury Town and advance to the next qualifying round of the FA Trophy. The Greens scored early, then upped their game significantly after the break to pull away.

There were two changes to the starting line-up from the team which held Dulwich last weekend, Peter Dean replacing the suspended Kevin Maclaren and Belal Aite-Ouakrim coming in for Tony Taggart, who dropped to the bench.

The Greens could hardly have made a more perfect start as they took the lead with 90 seconds on the clock. A through ball picked out Leon Smith, who cut inside his defender to make room for a shot.

Smith’s effort beat Stephen Fenner but hit the inside of the post. Fastest to latch onto the rebound was Aite-Ouakrim, who did extremely well to side-foot the ball into the unguarded net as he was a little off-balance and made it look both easy and graceful.

The Bury defence was rattled and could have conceded on a couple of occasions. Kezie Ibe tried to set up Smith, but actually made the angle harder and Dave Diedhiou almost reached a well-directed Ollie Sprague corner.

It did not take Bury long to show their own teeth in attack. Jack Willbye rattled the crossbar with a drive after eight minutes, and then fired just over the bar eight minutes later. Both Joe and Chris Benjamin caused Elliott Brathwaite and Chris Seeby more than a few problems, but couldn't find clear openings.

In the 28th minute, Hendon were forced to concede a corner. It was swung in, McNamara failed to gather the ball and it ended up trickling over the goalline, with Phil Weavers getting the credit for the goal.

Fenner soon made a very good save from a Hendon free-kick, pushing the ball aside with a strong hand. When Bury had a similar opportunity, the ball was struck over the bar.

Both defences were living dangerously and two Hendon set pieces almost ended up in the net after scrambles, Diedhiou being the unlucky man on both occasions. Bury's Jordan Patrick saw a drive towards the near post which McNamara did well to save. He was also quickly off his line to block Joe Benjamin and he broke in on goal.

Hendon should have retaken the lead, once more or less than two minutes into the half. Ibe had this chance, but a combination Fenner and Miles Smith, sliding in, did enough to put him off and the ball went over the crossbar.

It soon became clear that Hendon had made a couple of tactical changes, and the Greens were much more composed and effective in the second half. Most notably, the Benjamins got barely a look-in as Seeby and Brathwaite dominated them.

Going forward Sam Murphy began to have a great effect and the Bury defence, well marshalled by the veteran John Kennedy, although shadowing Smith well, were much less confident against the more unorthodox Ibe and Aite-Ouakrim.

In the 58th minute, Hendon regained the lead and Smith played a key role - by doing very little. Attacking at a corner, Fenner complained to the referee that Smith was obstructing him, but got short shrift from the referee.

As Sprague curled in the corner, the goalkeeper made little attempt to get around Smith. In front of that pair, two defenders were equally static, standing just inside the six-yard box.

The one person who wasn't inert was Hendon captain Lee O'Leary. He burst between the two blue sentries and was unchallenged as he headed the ball home. Bury players looked towards the referee, hoping for a free-kick, but there had been no foul.

Eight minutes later the game was made almost safe. Murphy teased and tormented Seb Dunbar before delivering a teasing low cross bending away from the goal six yards out.

Fenner dived out to smother the ball, but he couldn't hold it and squirmed towards the penalty spot. Once more, the man on the spot was Aite-Ouakrim, and, once again, he swept the ball into goal.

It was a little surprising that, chasing the game, Bury's first substitution was a defensive one, but Kennedy - at 36 - may not have the legs to play a full 90 minutes every match, so Russell Short replaced him midway through the half. Almost immediately Taggart came on for Dean.

On two or three occasions, Hendon had some good openings, but the last ball was never quite right. Then, with 13 minutes remaining, the Greens' afternoon took a turn for the worse when O'Leary went down just outside the Hendon penalty area.

After a minute or so of treatment, a stretcher was called for and O'Leary was taken down the tunnel. Sam Flegg came on to replace him, causing the Greens to reorganise their forces, and actually making them stronger in the process.

Bury, getting nothing down the middle, resorted to attacks down the wing. However, when the ball was delivered into penalty area, if Brathwaite, Flegg or Seeby didn't deal with it, then it was left to McNamara, and he distinguished himself with some excellent catches from crosses.

In the last 10 minutes, both teams made another change, first Andre Da Costa replacing Smith, whose workrate in those 83 minutes was laudable, even though he had few clear-cut chances to add to his goal tally.

Bury sent on Remi Garrett for Willbye but contributed little as Hendon saw out time in some comfort. The Greens continued to look for a fourth goal; it may have been icing on the cake, but would have been cruel on the Blues.