Hendon reached the last eight of the Robert Dyas (Isthmian) League Cup for the first time since 2003 with a narrow if well-deserved victory over Hampton & Richmond Borough at Earlsmead on Monday night. The reward for the Greens is a quarter-final tie against League leaders Maidstone United.

Following the disappointing loss at Peacehaven & Telscombe at the weekend, Hendon rang the changes with Chris Seeby, Lee O'Leary and Aaron Morgan making way for James Fisher, Andre Da Costa and Leon Smith. The three players who missed out were all named on the substitutes bench, though only Morgan was used.

To recognise Hendon manager Gary McCann's 10th anniversary in charge of the team, the two sets of players formed a guard of honour when he walked out of the dressing rooms to go the dugout. Despite the overnight snow and bitterly cold weather, to the relief of most people, the pitch passed a late-afternoon inspection although the conditions were far from ideal.

Hampton started very brightly and forced the early pace. Striker Charlie Moone showed his good and bad sides, first falling theatrically to the ground and being lucky not to receive a yellow card for simulation, then making a dangerous run and firing a shot which was saved by Ben McNamara.

The next player to try his luck with a shot was former Hendon striker Julian Owusu-Bekoe. His effort was on target, but it didn't trouble McNamara, who then saved a free-kick from Ben Osman.

Gradually, Hendon began to get more into the game and, in the 24th minute, Dave Diedhiou found himself into a good position for a shot, but he was just off target. Six minutes later, Fisher went even closer when his shot beat Mark Smith, but the goalkeeper was relieved to see a team-mate make a goal-line clearance.

In the 35th minute, Da Costa went on a mazy run which took him past three defenders. His shot was rising and just cleared the crossbar.

After Hampton rather wasted a free-kick with a poor cross, Hendon returned to the attack and Leon Smith almost broke the deadlock when he latched onto a cross. He swivelled past a defender and drilled the ball goalwards, only for namesake Mark to make a superb save.

Before the resumption of the second half, Hendon replaced Fisher with Peter Dean, a move that was planned by the Greens management team as Fisher had been out of action for more than a month. At the same time, the Beavers made a switch as Ben Hunt, who would have started if he had arrived in time, took over from Moone.

And, three minutes into the second period, Hendon got the lead their enterprise deserved. It was a simple goal; Diedhiou delivered a teasing cross which Kezie Ibe put into the net with a well-directed header.

Around the hour mark, Hendon thought they had doubled their advantage when Leon Smith put the ball into the net. Unfortunately for him, the well-worked Hampton offside trap snared him and the assistant referee's flag ensured the celebrations were stifled. The Beavers worked hard with their defensive line and the Greens fell foul of it on a number of occasions.

A couple of minutes later, Max McCann replaced Tony Taggart. Hendon continued to create the better openings and, in the 64th minute, a cross from Leon Smith, was met by Ibe on the volley, but he was slightly off target.

With 20 minutes to go, both teams made further substitutions, Morgan taking over from Ibe for Hendon while Hampton sent on Archange Nkumu in place of Paris Mason. The last change for the Beavers saw Saheed Sankoh go off and Jake Rose come on.

Hendon almost gifted the Beavers an equaliser with five minutes of normal time remaining. A misplaced pass in defence was intercepted by Hunt, who sprinted towards McNamara's goal. He slipped the ball beyond the goalkeeper but looked on aghast as it struck the inside of a post and bounced back into play.

It led to a very rapid Greens counter-attack which ended with Morgan having a great shooting chance. Unfortunately for him, he screwed the effort wide.

In stoppage time, Casey Maclaren took advantage of Hampton’s tiredness and desperation for an equaliser to charge forward. He worked himself a shooting opportunity but Mark Smith was equal to it.