Hendon ended a five match winless run with a hard-fought and somewhat undeserved 2-1 victory at Aveley on Saturday, a result that lifted them out of the relegation zone. After a superb opening 35 minutes, the Greens were living on their nerves at the end of the first half and throughout the second period.

Central defender Bradley Thomas, a midweek signing from Sutton United took over from Pat O'Donnell, while James Burgess replaced Dave Diedhiou and a revamped midfield saw Casey Maclaren and Wayne O'Sullivan come in for James Bent and Lubomir Guentchev.

In the fifth minute, Billy Dunn fired a shot which whistled past the Millers' debutant goalkeeper Ollie Morris-Sanders. Two minutes later, Morris-Sanders made a routine save of a powerful drive from Kevin Maclaren.

From the goalkeeper's clearance the ball bounced into the path of Junior Dadson and he had Aveley's first attempt on goal. James Reading's save was no more difficult that that of his opposite number seconds earlier and was completed with a similar minimum of fuss.

Hendon should have taken the lead in the 10th minute when a flicked-on ball through the midfield released Dunn. The striker got in front of Ryan Doyle and knocked the ball the onrushing Morris-Sanders.

Unfortunately for Dunn, he was at just too much of an angle to take a touch to steady himself before shooting, but his first time effort was at an unguarded goal. The ball rolled agonisingly just wide of the far post and the chance was gone.

The Greens continued to set the pace, with Sam Holloway having a torrid time trying to deal with O'Sullivan. And, after 22 minutes, his willingness to concede a corner led to Hendon's opening goal.

Scott Cousins curled the ball in and James Parker got a neat flick on the ball. Arriving late and leaving Matt Johnson trailing in his wake, Casey MACLAREN was perfectly placed to head home from six yards. Johnson's complaints at the lack of marking lacked a mirror for all the culprits to receive the due discredit.

Another right-side set-piece provided Hendon's second goal. This time it was for a foul on Casey Maclaren, close to the corner flag. Again Cousins took the kick, but this time it was Thomas who was on the end of it. His header may well have brought him a debut goal, but Peter DEAN, made absolutely certain by heading home from all of 18 inches’ range.

Aveley set about repairing the damage to their chances of victory with a period of enterprising play. Richard Ketchell forced Reading into a save and Junior Dadson began to ask serious questions of Burgess.

It seemed as if Hendon had weathered the storm and would take a two-goal lead into the break, but they were twice fortunate not to concede in the dying moments of the half. First a shot from Johnson was spilled, which led to a huge goalmouth scramble.

Somehow, Hendon were able to scrape the ball away from danger on three occasions as Martin Tuohy and Sherwin Stanley fired in shots, but survive the Greens did, albeit with Craig Vargas requiring attention. He was able to resume, much to the relief of the Hendon bench.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Dadson tried his luck from 20 yards. It was a superb effort which beat Reading all ends up. The ball struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced down invitingly for the following up Johnson.

The midfielder was less than six yards out, with the whole goal to aim at. He decided to aim his header high rather than low and pretty much everyone in the ground gasped in astonishment as the ball floated over the crossbar.

After the match, the referee told people that there had been seven fouls committed in the whole of the first half. There is no better example of just how much Aveley dominated the second period than the fact that Hendon conceded no less than seven free-kicks within 25 yards of their penalty area.

It could also be pointed out that the only on-target second half effort from Hendon came in the 76th minute, when Peter Dean had a shot saved at his near post by Morris-Sanders and the only three other attempts all flew well wide of the target.

By comparison, Reading was fully exercised for almost all of the second half. He made good saves to deny Stanley, Tuohy and Dadson while, the new central defensive pairing of Parker and Thomas did well, the latter's organising ability being a huge help to those around him.

Aveley made an attacking substitution just after the hour mark, replacing another debutant, defender Alex Bentley with the more attacking Piers Wixon and it had the desired effect within two minutes. Reading made a good save to keep out an effort from Mitch Hahn, but he was helpless to stop TUOHY following up and rolling the ball into the net.

Kevin Maclaren and Scott Cousins both received cautions, the latter for a cynical foul to stop Tuohy in his tracks as Aveley raced downfield. With defenders behind him and at least 45 yards between the striker and the goal, it was not a clear goalscoring opportunity, the yellow card shown to him was absolutely the right decision.

In the 74th minute, Hendon had a huge escape. Another free-kick was floated into the penalty area by Hahn. Nicky Symons broke clear of his marker and he powered a header past Reading, but not the near post and a grateful Hendon defender completed the clearance.

With 12 minutes to go, both teams made changes, Hendon withdrawing, Dunn and Casey Maclaren, introducing Bent and Diedhiou, respectively. Aveley gave a debut to Che Stadhart, who replaced Stanley.

The former Ryman League championship winner – with Gravesend & Northfleet – had a big impact in the final quarter of the match. His 88th-minute run at the heart of the Hendon defence forced Thomas into an illegal last-man intervention, 30-odd yards from his own goal.

There was no hesitation in the referee’s flourishing of the red card, entirely the right decision. Thomas, however, undoubtedly preserved the three points for his team as the striker was certainly favourite to score.

In stoppage time, O'Sullivan left the fray, to be replaced by Guentchev, a substitution which took more than a minute to complete. The three minutes additional time were thus extended by another two, much to the dismay of a rather frantic Hendon bench.

But they need not have panicked quite so much as the Hendon defence held on. Guentchev had a chance to make the game safe in the 95th minute, but his effort went a good 25 yards wide. Had he put the ball in the net as intended, it could barely have been a more effective time-wasting act than the end-result - Morris-Sanders sprinting to the corner flag to retrieve the ball.

A very relieved Hendon manager Gary McCann said, "For 35 minutes, we were excellent and thoroughly deserved to be 2-0 up.

"But in the last 60 minutes we were very edgy; it's where we're at, at the moment. We were all anxious, but we were desperate to hang on for the victory. It was so important for us."