Hendon's 13 match unbeaten run in the League was brought to earth with a decided bump by an enterprising Bognor side at a sunny yet chilly Nyewood Lane.

An early attacking blitz by the home side was met by a lack of defensive resilience from Hendon and the game was all but over after just 23 minutes.

Bognor dominated from the outset, an early attack being quelled only by a clumsy challenge by Elliot Braithwaite, who received a deserved yellow card for his rudimentary defending. This noticeably put him on edge during the rest of his involvement, and might well have led to a less robust than usual approach from the normally steadfast Hendon defender.
The resultant free kick only found the Hendon wall, but it was not long before the Rocks took the advantage. Some decent approach play down the right saw Bognor put in a dangerous cross which a hapless James Fisher could only divert into his own net in the seventh minute.

The lead was doubled just four minutes later. Some more deft approach play, this time from the left, resulted in another cross to the back post. Alex Parsons easily out jumped his marker and his quality header eluded Ben McNamara in the Hendon goal to give the home side a deserved lead.

It wasn't all one way traffic though. Hendon themselves mounted several attacks, with Leon Smith, Andre Da Costa, Kezie Ibe and Belal Aite-Ouakrim all troubling the home defence to varying degrees, but, as was the case throughout the match, the telling final ball or attempt on goal was found lacking in terms of conviction and/or execution.

Despite Hendon's desire to get back into the game, it was Bognor who reasserted themselves and took what seemed to be an unassailable lead as early as the 23rd minute. Ollie Pearce was played through in the box and he did well to slot home his shot from a tight angle.

Just a minute later, Hendon fans were given a brief flicker of hope when Smith forced the ball into the box and, after a brief episode of pinball, Belal Aite-Ouakrim smashed the ball home to make it 3-1.

Bognor were straight back on the front foot, a corner eventually being driven forcefully against the Hendon bar by Crane, with what was becoming a real end-to-end match then seeing Hendon counter with a promising attack that fizzled out against some strong Bognor defending.

Bognor went straight up the other end and had yet another assault on goal thwarted by a last-ditch Hendon clearance. In the 35th minute, a Hendon free kick saw Ibe head the ball into the Bognor goal, but the linesman had other ideas and the attempt was chalked off for offside.

The final minutes of the half saw Oliver Sprague receive Hendon's second caution for a reckless lunge before Bognor finished the half as they started it, a goal-bound effort deflected away by a Bognor player much to the relief of the beleaguered Hendon defence.

Half time saw Goode replace Braithwaite for Hendon.

The visitors started brightly, a Seeby header being directed just past the post before Aite-Ouakrim embarked on one of his trademark mazy runs into the box. Despite two audible clips of his ankles from defenders, he stayed on his feet, his eventual shot being dealt with easily. It might have been a very different match had he instead opted to hit the deck.

Bognor were next up for an attacking spell, one shot being blazed over, before another attempt was cleared off the line. Hendon then on the offensive, with a Smith shot fired over; an effort from Aite-Ouakrim deflected over for a corner and a header from Smith easily dealt with.

Sprague and Aite-Ouakrim were replaced by Peter Dean and Tony Taggart for Hendon as they hunted desperately for a way back into the game. Bognor continued to generate more chances, at least two wayward shots perhaps should have extended their lead.

As the clock ran down, Bognor rubbed salt into the Hendon wound with a fourth goal. A brilliant save from McNamara cruelly dropped to Bognor's Tuck who had no problems in finishing to round off a forgettable afternoon for Hendon and their small band of faithful supporters.

The Greens will be looking to bounce back against local rivals Enfield Town in the League Cup on Tuesday before putting the wheels back on their push for a play-off place with a home game against Ryman strugglers VCD Athletic on Saturday.