Hendon produced one of their best ever performances of manager Dave Anderson's near three-year reign when they travelled to Bridge Avenue and came away with three thoroughly deserved points for the 2-0 victory on Tuesday night. It was the Dons' 13th consecutive Ryman League Premier Division game without defeat and 15th in all competitions.

In the wake of Saturday's disappointing draw against Aylesbury there were four changes to the starting line-up, with Dave King (unavailable), Andy Cook (calf strain) and Iain Duncan (groin) missing from the squad and Ricci Crace and Dale Binns swapping starting and substitute places. In came goalkeeper Danny Naisbitt, Antony Howard and Jon-Barrie Bates.

The Urchins were distinctly aware of the threat Hendon posed, so they were very circumspect in the opening exchanges. Indeed there was little to report note in the opening 15 minutes.

In the 16th minute, a short back-pass from Dwayne Plummer appeared to have put in Vinny John with an unimpeded run at goal. However, the referee noticed his assistant waving for offside. As the Greens had clearly received no advantage, he blew for a Hendon free-kick just as John went down under Naisbitt's challenge.

Mark Cooper, Steve Butler and Mark Burgess were absolutely outstanding at the heart of the Hendon defence and Hornchurch rarely looked like penetrating. With Scott Cousins and Howard offering outlets out wide, Dwayne Plummer and Steve Forbes could prompt in the heart of midfield and collect the scraps tigerishly battled for by Bates. Up front, Eugene Ofori and Crace gave the Urchins defenders uncomfortable moments with their tireless running and excellent close control.

All this meant that neither Daniel Gay nor Naisbitt were particularly overworked, although the latter did well to punch a few crosses away from danger.

Suddenly, and out of almost nothing, Hendon took a 35th-minute lead. A corner was not properly cleared and when the ball came back into the penalty area, BUTLER was on hand to lift it acrobatically over Gay with his left foot.

There was no onslaught from the Urchins, who looked, it must be said a little jaded, playing their ninth game in 28 days. The team lacked the sort of passion that have been the trademark of clubs managed by George Borg and it certainly made things easier for Hendon.

Just as the game moved into first half stoppage time, Hendon struck again. An attack built down the right flank and when the ball was angled into the penalty area, PLUMMER ghosted into the space and flicked the ball past Gay who was left hopelessly exposed.

Mr Borg's displeasure at his charges' first half display was evident before the second period kicked off. Robert Martin and the veteran Gary Abbott were introduced at the expense of Mark Graham and Adam Locke, but the newcomers could do little lift the home side's lethargy.

Hendon meanwhile buzzed around the ball like a swarm of angry bees. The Greens' reputation for attacking on the break meant that Hornchurch didn't commit as many men forward as they probably would have liked, but this was because they knew a third goal would end the match as a contest.

Even so, in the 64th minute, a superb ball from Cousins gave Crace a great chance to notch the third goal, but Gay was equal to him and made a fine save with his legs.

With eight minutes of normal time to go, a third striker was sent on, Andy Douglas replacing the ineffective Jon Keeling. Four minutes later, the Hendon goal had its first real threat when a quickly taken free-kick curled over Naisbitt, but bounced off the roof of the net.

In the 89th minute, Naisbitt kicked a header from John clear, but the save was unnecessary as the assistant referee had his flag up for offside. So it was not until the 94th minute, when John had another on-target header, that Naisbitt had to make a save worth the name. Even then John's attempt lacked either the power or the direction to trouble the keeper unduly.

Hendon's supporters sang noisily through the second half and their joy at the final whistle mirrored that of the team and management staff.

"This was a tremendous performance," enthused Mr Anderson. "My assistant Jon Turner summed it up when he said, 'We could not have asked for another ounce of effort from any one of the players.' I thought we were absolutely magnificent and it proves once again that it doesn't matter what the size of the club's budget is, it is the size of the players' hearts that really counts."