Hendon continued their move away from the danger zone with a 2-0 victory over Staines Town, completing a second double in a week. The Greens moved 13 points clear of the bottom four and also up one place in the Ryman League Premier Division table to 17th.

Casey Maclaren had a new centre-back partner in teenager Addison Garnett, and the 19-year-old produced a man-of-the-match performance on his debut. Another change was the return of Mark Kirby, and the two who dropped out were Wesley Fonguck, whose three-month loan period from Barnet ended, and Russell Short.

Under the new management team of Johnson Hippolyte and Dereck Brown, Staines were almost unrecognizable from the team which started at Wheatsheaf Park five weeks earlier. Only three of the starting 11 and five of the 16 had been on the Massive's team-sheet in Hendon's 3–1 victory, with former Hendon man Jack Bennett missing through suspension.

With a strong, bitterly cold wind at their backs, Hendon wanted a good start and they got it. After a minute they forced a corner on the right side and Tony Taggart came across to take it. His delivery was perfect as no one could get a touch on the ball as it curved into the net.

Three minutes later, the lead was nearly doubled from the same route. Carl McCluskey's header from a corner was on its way into the net until it struck Adam Wallace as he tried to get out of the ball's path. The rebound fell to another green shirt and this shot was also blocked by one of four players in the congested six-yard box.

Hendon, however, didn't go on to dominate the game. In fact, it was Staines who set the pace for most of the first half. The Greens didn't do themselves any favours with some of their tackling as they conceded a number of free-kicks around the penalty area.

The Massive, who have had problems scoring goals, were as ineffective from set-pieces as they were from open play. Two of the free-kicks were drilled into the defensive wall, while others were comfortably dealt with by the Greens.

Joe Wright was the busier of the two goalkeepers, but apart from one good save at his near post, he spent the first half catching crosses, almost inevitably without a yellow shirt close enough to make it difficult for him. On the rare occasions that Staines worked themselves shooting opportunities, the accuracy was sadly lacking.

A rare Hendon attack saw Omar Vassell break down the right side. When the ball was crossed in, Jack Turner, at full stretch, made a superb catch with Kezie Ibe, McCluskey and Wallace all waiting to pounce on any mishandling.

Greens fans were distinctly uneasy at half-time because their one-goal lead seemed likely to be given a stern examination and the second half certainly started that way. Six minutes into the half, a ball from the left wing reached Harry Taylor who was only a few yards from goal.

Wright, however, made superb ground across his goal line and made a brilliant save to keep Hendon's lead intact. It proved to be a turning point in the game because the Greens doubled their advantage a few minutes later.

Part of Hendon's half-time talk must have included a demand that forward players pressed defenders more and gave them less time to pick their passes. Taggart did just that to De'Reece Vanderhyde, forcing the centre-half to pass back to Turner.

The clearance was not the best and barely reached the centre circle where Dave Diedhiou controlled the ball and quickly released Wallace, in acres of space down the right flank. Wallace got the better of Chinua Cole and got to the by-line from where he looked up for options.

McCluskey and Ibe were both available, but the ball went behind them into the path of the supporting Diedhiou. He needed a touch to control the ball before shooting, which allowed a Staines defender to block the attempt.

The rebound went back to Diedhiou, whose second shot was also blocked. This time, however, it was Wallace who got to the loose ball and quickly saw the best option was a short pass to Taggart.

This time, there was no defender close enough to intervene and Taggart drilled the ball through the legs of Turner, who may have been unsighted by the presence of Wallace in front of him.

In last week's game at VCD Athletic, Taggart had a goal disallowed for offside, so there was a degree of consolation in Wallace interpreted as being in a passive position, rather than an active one when offside. It must be said that no Staines defender appealed for offside before or after the goal was scored.

This second goal rather knocked the stuffing out of Staines, who did little in the final 35 minutes to suggest that they had any idea how to get back into the game. Wright caught a couple of crosses but was unduly troubled.

The Greens made their three changes in the middle 15 minutes of the half, dramatically reducing the average age of the 11 on the pitch - all three substitutes being about 14 years younger than the starter who went off. Finbarr Robins took over from Taggart, Ben Pattie replaced Ibe and Brandon Adams came on for Wallace.

It was a move that nearly back-fired with 10 minutes to go, when Vanderhyde made an awful challenge on Pattie. The substitute needed significant treatment before he was able to continue, but was clearly in some discomfort.

Pattie had stud marks down his shin from the challenge, and when he was caught, his foot was on top of the ball. Vanderhyde could not have complained if he had been shown a red card and was probably relieved that it was yellow.

Three minutes from the end, Pattie almost got perfect revenge to make it 3-0 when he cut in from the right side. He bent the ball past Turner, but the wind took the ball away from the goal and Adams's cross back into the penalty area was caught by Turner.