Hendon made hard work of sealing their place in the 2nd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup by a very well organised Crawley Down Gatwick side who went close to causing an upset before two late goals saw the Greens through.

There were three changes for Lee Allinson's side with Joe Howe replacing the unwell Eddie Oshodi, Luca Allinson being rewarded for his bright substitute performance at Salisbury with a start in place of Jayden Clarke and Joe White coming in for Sam Corcoran and partnering Dwade James up front.

Chances were very much at a premium in the first half as defences dominated at both ends of the pitch. Shaun Lucien went closest for Hendon as he galloped clear down the inside left channel, dinked the ball over the goalkeeper only to see his effort cleared off the line by a well positioned covering defender whilst at the other end a fearsome left-footed strike from Nick Sullivan flew narrowly wide of Jonathan North's left-hand upright.

There was more goalmouth action after the break, Joe White being denied his first goal of the season by a splendid block whilst the hosts were denied the opener at the other end by a combination of an excellent save by North and then, from the rebound, superb goal-line clearance by a blue-shirted defender.

As with the weekend draw at Salisbury the game changed with Hendon's substitutions. Liam Brooks and Jayden Clarke were both introduced and it was the latter that broke the deadlock with 15 minutes remaining, firing powerfully home from 20-yards with an effort that arrowed into the top corner.

Twelve minutes later the game appeared to have been sealed when Brooks broke clear onto a loose ball, beat the onrushing goalkeeper, heading the ball past him before stroking the ball into the empty net.

Ben Chowney pulled a goal back for the hosts within 60 seconds bundling the ball home at the far post after the visiting defenders failed to deal with a ball into the box, but any nerves amongst the Hendon faithful were eased as they managed the game in the Crawley Down half to run the clock down and ensure their progression into the next round.