Hendon's fight against relegation was dealt a blow on Saturday afternoon as they slipped to a heavy defeat at Tonbridge Angels. However, the 5-1 score line was slightly flattering to the home side, who are becoming something of a bogey side for the Greens. The result confirmed that Tonbridge will be taking part in the play-offs at the end of the season.

Gary McCann made two changes to the starting line-up with Harry Hunt and Peter Dean replacing Lubomir Guentchev and Brian Haule who both dropped to the bench.

Before the game, the five intrepid walkers who had travelled on foot from London to Tonbridge had congregated behind one of the goals, along with some of the other Hendon supporters. As captain James Parker went up for the coin toss, they started to chant "swap ends" - to ensure that the supporters with sore feet didn't have to walk to the other end of the ground. It worked - and the only Hendon person walking the length of the pitch was keeper Will Viner.

The performance from the Greens in the first half was disappointing, whilst Tonbridge took their chances when they came along. Early in the game, Tonbridge had what appeared to be an excellent penalty shout turned down when Paul Booth appeared to be pushed whilst jumping for the ball. Much to the surprise of most spectators, the referee awarded a free kick to Hendon.

The opening goal came in the 10th minute. Tonbridge were awarded a corner, and the defence failed to pick up the run of Scott Gooding at the far post and he rose to head the ball home. Shortly afterwards, Hendon had a penalty shout of their own when Parker was pushed by Angels keeper Lee Worgan, but the referee had seen an earlier foul on the keeper and turned down the claims.

Harry Hunt was looking very lively for the Greens and the Tonbridge defence had to be at their best to contain him. In the 20th minute his run towards goal was thwarted on the edge of the 18 yard box, and a few minutes later Simon Glover defended well to stop Hunt in his tracks as the visitors favoured long balls, but with very little success.

On the half hour mark came the first strike at goal for Hendon when Kevin Maclaren was set up by Sam Collins. Unfortunately Maclaren's fierce drive flew narrowly over the bar.

The play went up the other end and a free kick was given away by the Hendon defence around 30 yards from goal. The ball was played into the crowded box, and Gooding was on hand to bundle the ball into the net and double the lead.

Within a few minutes, Tonbridge were 3-0 ahead when their skipper Anthony Storey controlled the ball 25 yards from goal and fired an unstoppable shot past Viner into the net. It was an excellent strike.

Shortly before half-time, Tonbridge were forced into a substitution when Fraser Logan suffered a recurrence of a knee injury, and Dwain Clarke came on in his place.

Before the whistle went, Hendon had one more half chance when Hunt closed down Worgan as he cleared the ball. It was clearly a day when the luck wasn't with the Greens as the ball rebounded off Hunt, but rolled agonisingly just wide of the post before Hunt could reach it to divert it into the unguarded net.

McCann made the unusual step of making a triple substitution at half-time, replacing Maclaren, Craig Vargas and James Bent with Haule, Mark Kirby and Glenn Garner. The changes sparked the Greens into life and they put in a much more positive performance in the second period.

An excellent move involving Hunt, Collins and Peter Dean ended with Hunt shooting just wide of the goal early in the half, and shortly afterwards, Garner, Hunt and Jamie Busby were involved in another passing move that ended with Hunt's shot being blocked by a Tonbridge defender.

Unfortunately in the 58th minute an error by the Hendon defence let in Carl Rook who fired the ball home, giving Viner no chance of making a save, and leaving the Greens with very little chance of getting something from the game.

On the hour mark, another excellent team move saw Garner shoot just wide. In the 65th minute, Tonbridge, who have had disciplinary problems, picked up their first booking of the afternoon when Clarke made an unnecessary challenge on Busby. From the free-kick the ball was played to Busby, but his shot was another that wasn't quite on target.

With fifteen minutes to go, Viner made a superb save when it seemed certain that Steve Ferguson was going to score and extend the Angels lead even further.

The Greens got the goal they deserved in the 81st minute. Harry Hunt broke into the box, and was pulled down when Storey tugged at his shirt. The Angels skipper, who had accepted the penalty decision without complaint, was then booked for refusing to retreat before the penalty - another unnecessary booking for a team that were four goals ahead. Busby stepped up and fired the ball home, giving Worgan no chance of making a save. Storey's booking means that he misses the Angels last two games of the season through suspension, although he will be available for the play-offs.

Four minutes later, Hendon had a good chance to score a second goal when Haule broke clear, but Worgan was on hand to make a very good parried save. The ball was launched up field, and Dean committed a foul that resulted in a booking.

From the resulting free kick, the ball was played to Clarke and he looked up and sent a delicious lob over Viner into the net to restore the four goal lead for the Angels.

However, there was more drama to come, as the home side continued to lose their discipline as the game moved into stoppage time, despite their four goal lead. Parker took control of the ball in the Hendon half, but was immediately the victim of a horrendous challenge from Angels substitute Ade Olorunda. The referee had no choice but to show Olorunda the red card. The card means that Olorunda will miss the final two league games of the season, as well as the semi-finals of the play-offs. Fortunately for the striker, Parker came out of the challenge without an injury.

In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Hunt and Leon Legge collided on the edge of the Angels penalty area. Both players went to ground and tangled legs. Legge clearly kicked out at Hunt, but the attack was out of sight of the referee, who had already awarded a free kick to the Angels. Had the official seen Legge kick out, he would almost certainly have been shown a red card.

The result dropped the Greens back into the bottom four, but as they have a game in hand on the clubs immediately above them, avoiding relegation is still in their own hands.