Hendon enjoyed a surprisingly comfortable ride in winning 2-0 over Middlesex rivals Harrow Borough at Earlsmead on a hot Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. Goals in the opening six minutes of each half were enough to give the Greens 6 points in 48 hours over the holiday weekend.

There was only one change in the Hendon line-up from Saturday, Micky Woolner coming in for Gary Fitzgerald at right-back. The Greens' defence, with Simon Clarke on the other wing and Paul Towler and René Street in the middle, was very solid, giving former Harrow goalkeeper David Hook a very quiet afternoon. In fact the only save he had to make was a mishit 25-yard shot that rolled to him.

By this time, Hendon were already a goal to the good, having opened the scoring after just 4 minutes. The goal was very simple. A reverse pass from Marvyn Watson sent Davis Haule clear with Daren Bloor beaten for pace. Keita Karamoko came off his line, but HAULE knocked the ball under the goalkeeper for his first goal of the season.

Harrow struggled to get into the game in the opening 20 minutes, with Karamoko and his defenders often reading from different scripts. Hendon had a couple of half-chances, but the only effort of note was a driven cross by Dale Binns which Karamoko caught at the second attempt. Ross Pickett and Haule both created openings, but took the wrong option, which allowed Harrow the chance to clear.

Borough upped the tempo of their game before half-time, but they really lacked the invention necessary to unlock the Hendon defence. A few crosses came into the Hendon penalty area, but Towler and Street won almost every challenge. Hook always looked to distribute quickly, but Hendon lost possession too easily.

However, when they did get forward, Hendon caused the Harrow defence countless problems. Borough captain Christian Hyslop, a former Hendon defender, had an uncomfortable afternoon, frequently making desperate, last-ditch challenges while often wasting possession with wayward passes.

Hendon started the second half much as they did the first, with a goal. There seemed nothing on when BINNS received the ball just outside the Harrow penalty area. The young forward spotted a small gap and drilled a powerful shot that was slowed by a Harrow stud but not really deflected. Karamoko dived, but seemed slow in going down and the ball ended up nestling in the bottom corner of the net.

The goal knocked the stuffing out of Harrow, who created exactly one chance in the second 45 minutes, a free header from Fabio Valenti that went wide with most of the goal gaping. In midfield, the rhyming twins, Jon-Barrie Bates and Paul Yates, ruled the roost and they set up a succession of Hendon chances that were not taken.

Harrow made an unusual double substitution just after the hour mark, replacing John Hurlock and first half substitute Leon Woodruffe, the latter having played just 33 minutes, during which time he appeared to have a couple of arguments with manager Eddie Stein.

Binns gave Wayne Walters a torrid time to the extent that the full-back eventually lost his rag and crudely brought him down. Referee Mr N Kinseley, who had little to do, but still had a good game, produced the only yellow card of the match. Binns then fired a shot just wide after teasing run.

Two of Hendon's three substitutes, Ricci Crace (on for Pickett) and Lee O'Donnell (for Bates), wasted chances with wayward shots from good positions. Haule and Yates also had shots, but failed to hit the target.

"We scored two good goals today," said manager Dave Anderson, who had 3 spells as assistant manager at Harrow. "Our back 4 was very good and Ricky Woolner settled in well at right back. We didn't play well in the first half, but my assistants, Jon Turner and Warren Kelly sorted a couple of things out and we looked very comfortable in the second half."