A goal in each half was the difference between these two local rivals, but if Hendon had been a little more emphatic in front of goal, then Boreham Wood's home defeat would have been significantly greater than 2-0. The result moved Hendon up to 12th place, but Wood sank a place to 21st, a position made more parlous by the fact that they have played 33 games, and 5 of their last 9 games are against teams in the top 6 of the Ryman League Premier Division.

Hendon's injury problems meant that John-Simon White was unable to start and he joined Gary McCann, Paul Towler, Simon Clarke, Dale Binns and Jason McKoy in the stand. The good news is that most of them are very close to regaining full fitness. Marvyn Watson came into the side in the unfamiliar role of left wing-back, but he was superb.

Boreham Wood started the first half very brightly and Andy Iga was put under immediate pressure with a header from Neil Selby that the tall goalkeeper caught above his head. After 5 minutes, Wood should have taken the lead. A neat move down the right flank saw Andre Delisser cross the ball in low. It was helped across goal to John Lawford, who was unmarked 8 yards from goal.

The prolific striker tried to roll the ball inside the far post, but Iga made a fantastic save, touching the ball around the post. Referee Mr P Armstrong (Berks), infuriated the home fans by awarding a goal kick, but he did not make many other errors.

Hendon began to get more into the game and Davis Haule gave Alan McCarthy a torrid time down the right flank. As soon as the Greens started to pass the ball Wood's defensive weakness became glaringly obvious.

Hurried defending gave Hendon a succession of corners, from which Jon Daly, Paul Whitmarsh and Matt Bartholomew all went close. Bartholomew was particularly unlucky, seeing his towering header from Freddie Hyatt's corner cannon off the top of the crossbar. Neil Sharp was very fortunate not to open the scoring for Hendon. His attempted clearance of another corner struck foot of a post and was palmed away by Glen Knight.

The inevitable goal came on the stroke of half-time. More poor defending saw Terry Howard clear the ball to his unrelated opposite No. 5, Matt. The Hendon Howard passed the ball to Dominic Gentle, who fed Haule. Haule passed to Daly, whose instant touch released Whitmarsh.

He and Terry Howard tussled for the ball, but the former was the quicker and stronger. Through on Knight, WHITMARSH wasted little time and effort in drilling the ball into the net. His whoop of joy was matched by the large band of travelling supporters behind the goal. They probably made up half of the 362 crowd.

Whatever Wood manager Colin Payne had to say to his troops didn't take long and they were back out on the pitch 5 minutes before Hendon left the dressing room. They had to make a change, replacing the injured Mark Robson with former Barnet player Kieren Adams.

The home side started the second half very well. A flighted free-kick from Delisser deceived everybody and bounced off the foot of a post before being cleared for a corner. Hendon's back three, Bartholomew, Gary Fitzgerald and Warren Kelly, defended stoutly. Although Boreham Wood had almost all of the early possession, they rarely looked like scoring.

In fact, Knight produced two brilliant saves, 10 minutes after half-time, to keep the score at 1-0. First, Haule and Whitmarsh combined to send Gentle free, but Knight blocked the shot with his legs. A minute later, Haule crossed low for Whitmarsh, but again the 'keeper's long legs did enough to keep the ball out. It only delayed the inevitable. In the 70th minute, Haule slid the ball diagonally into Gentle's path. He skipped past McCarthy and floated a cross to the far post.

WATSON was unmarked as the ball arrived at just above waist height. The resulting volleyed scissors-kick rocketed off Knight into the roof of the net for a spectacular second goal.

There could have been more goals, at both ends, but Hendon had more chances. The best however, fell to Wood's Martin Buglione, but the substitute placed a free header high over the crossbar from just a few yards out.

"I did not know who was going to replace White today and I suddenly thought of Marvyn," said manager Frank Murphy. "I was worried how he would cope with his defensive duties but he was superb and his goal was a bit special too."