Hendon and Edgware Town took advantage of their Saturday morning postponements to go home in the afternoon - home as in the Silver Jubilee Park ground they will be sharing in the future - to play a practice match. The all-weather 3G pitch was in immaculate condition and Hendon took full advantage, and their three-division gap in status, to run out 8–1 winners.

All the Hendon squad, with the exception of injured Ollie Sprague, James Fisher, Dave Diedhiou and Belal Aite-Ouakrim and the sick Sam Flegg played at least a few minutes so this was the perfect work out for them and was far more useful to manager Gary McCann than a training session.

The frozen pitch at Earlsmead, when the referee inspected and called off the scheduled Ryman League Premier Division fixture against Canvey Island five hours earlier - his report showed the whole pitch was frozen - seemed almost unimaginable as the pitch was bathed in sunshine and the temperature was mild when the 2.00pm practice match kicked-off. What the Harrow Borough pitch would have been like as the temperature dropped when the sun had dropped is another matter.

For the first 15 minutes the two teams were content to pass the ball and probe for openings, though Hendon already looked far the more the composed and dangerous. Chris Seeby and Tony Taggart were able to play more as wingers than full-backs as Edgware played a narrower style and it proved costly.

In the middle, Casey Maclaren, Charlie Goode and Elliott Brathwaite rarely looked in trouble and they were able play not only at their own pace but also in more advanced positions than they would usually be accustomed to.

The only real surprise was that it took until the 17th minute for the Greens to make the breakthrough. Hendon passed the ball quickly and when Aaron Morgan got it, he was able to get clear of the last defender before shooting home.

Three minutes later a diagonal pass from Taggart eluded Adam Wallace and two defenders. As two other defenders dithered momentarily, Morgan pounced and scored again.

Edgware were struggling to keep in the game, and Hendon added a third goal in the first period, and it was an excellent effort. The Greens attacked down the right flank and Seeby played a one-two just inside the box, dribbled around the goalkeeper and finished with his left foot.

Before the start of the second period, Adam Wallace swapped his midnight blue No.9 shirt for the canary yellow No.17 - both teams, who normally wear green, were in their away kits - "They made me an offer I couldn't refuse, tea with one sugar at half-time," joked McCann. Kezie Ibe came on for Hendon.

Edgware looked much better in the second period, but they again conceded two goals in quick succession. Ten minutes after the resumption, another Hendon raid down the flanks opened up the defence and when the ball was laid across the penalty area, Taggart denied Morgan hat-trick, but slipping the ball into the net with his right foot.

Two minutes later, Ibe scored from close range after he lost his marker. Midway through the period, Hendon made five changes with Andre Da Costa, Sam Murphy, Leon Smith, Roman Michael-Percil and Peter Dean coming on.

While the new players were acclimatising themselves to the pace of the game and the conditions, Edgware took advantage and pulled a goal back. A good raid down the right wing saw the Greens defence dragged out of position and when the ball was played into the middle of the penalty area, Jay Molloy found the back of the net.

Hendon's superior fitness told in the final period, though Edgware did have two good scoring opportunities. The first of these saw Goode make an excellent goalline clearance, his anticipation to get into the position being outstanding.

A few minutes later, Town had the ball in the net after a shot struck the foot of a post before the rebound was knocked in. However, the player netting had been offside when the first shot was struck so the goal was ruled out.

This let-off galvanised Hendon, who stepped up a gear and they grabbed three more goals in seven minutes. First, Smith showed deft touch and balance to dance past two defenders before shooting home to make it 6–1 after 83 minutes.

Next on the scoresheet was Michael-Percil, who was able to score from close range. The last goal came with five minutes to go, when Da Costa weaved through a tired defence, steadied himself and finished with aplomb.

With the sun going down and the light beginning to fade, the temperature dropped dramatically. Had the referee brought proceedings to a premature halt, no one would have complained, even the late Hendon substitutes Scott Cousins and Danny McNicholas.