Hendon got everything they deserved on Saturday when they went down to a 2-0 defeat against Braintree Town at Cressing Road. Few, if any, of the players will take anything but bitter memories from their first visit to this part of Essex.

In fact, Essex clubs, in Ryman League action, have proved to be something of a hoodoo for the Greens, because while Hendon have picked up 10 points from 4 games against clubs in Middlesex, Hertfordshire and Surrey, the 3 Essex opponents have all enjoyed 2-goal victories.

But the biggest problem on Saturday was not that the opponents were from Essex, it was that Hendon players could not keep their discipline. Not only did they concede both goals in the opening 20 minutes following fouls within 20 yards of their own goal, but Jon-Barrie Bates was dismissed for two pieces of dissent against match officials and three other players were booked for bad fouls.

With Dale Binns out injured, Lee O'Donnell came into the side, while Paul Johnson replaced Ross Pickett and newcomer, Pitshou Ngopwani, were on the bench. Braintree, having ended Billericay's perfect start to the season four days earlier, were buzzing, although the prolific scorer Leon Gutzmore was absent.

Little of note happended in the opening 14 minutes before Braitnree took the lead. There seemed little danger as a right-wing cross was floated into the Hendon penalty area. As Tommy Noble went for the ball Micky Woolner appeared to nudge him and referee Mr M Basten pointed to the penalty spot.

David Hook guessed which way Robbie REINELT was going to strike the spot-kick, but it was just too good for him and the ball nestled in the bottom corner. Before the game could restart, the two assistant refrerees got involved. First, Mr Williams complained about comments from Bates, and the Hendon skipper was cautioned. Then Mr Wallace objected to observations from the Hendon bench, so Mr Basten walked across the pitch and delivered a lecture to Dave Anderson and his staff.

In the 20th minute, Noble got involved in another incident. Making a quick break down the right, his run was slowed by Marvyn Watson, who as quickly joined by Simon Clarke. They combined to dispossess Noble, but Clarke, trying to clear the danger, succeeded only in turning back into trouble. One spectacular tumble later, Noble was back on the floor and Braintree had a free-kick on the edge of the Hendon penalty area. Up stepped REINELT and his shot cannoned off the post and into the Hendon net.

Hendon were certainly not out of the game despite their poor start. Four minutes later, a magnificent 20-yard drive from O'Donnell was tipped onto the top of the crossbar by Paul Catley.

In the 37th minute, Ricci Crace worked himself an opening and he fired a low shot past the static Catley. Unfortunately for Hendon, the ball ricocheted away from the onrushing Davis Haule, who was quickest to follow-up, and he could not stretch his long legs far enough to knock home the rebound.

In defence, Braintree's quick uncomplicated play had Hendon stretched and Hook made two excellent saves. A pair of rash challenges also put added pressure on the Hendon rearguard.

But the most disappointing aspect of the first half was the Dons' use of deadball situations. Nine times a corner or free-kick was delivered into the penalty area; 6 were headed clear by Braintree defenders; two went directly out of play and the other one was headed by Chris Sparks who was at full stretch to reach the ball and could do little with it.

Referee Mr Basten certainly struggled to keep control of the game. The ball was frequently knocked out of the ground and he seemed slow to spot there was no ball on the pitch. In the 7th minute of stoppage time, he became unhappy with the quality of a replacement ball and wanted a new one. After a delay of 15 seconds, the ball was substituted. However, the game was only restarted for the time it took for a 15-yard pass to be made before he blew the half-time whistle.

Hendon ensured their journey would be futile 5 minutes after the break. A bad challenge by Bates again led to a yellow card and he was sent off.

Braintree enjoyed huge territorial advantage in the second half. Nicky Simpson had a strike ruled out for a dubious offside flag and another non-flagging was equally wrong. Hook produced 4 top-notch saves while Hendon were limited to rare forays into Braintree territory. However, from one of these, Haule went close with a header. The introduction of Yates, Johnson and Ngopwani was done to keep the score down, although the latter did show some nice touches.

"I thought we were very poor," said manager Dave Anderson. "They caused us all sorts of problems with their shape. When it is 11 against 11 you have to match up, and a lot of our players didn't We got away from the values our players have set up from our little winning run."