Hendon produced a magnificent second half show on Tuesday night to consign Basingstoke Town to a second straight defeat and at the same time moved to the top of the Ryman League Premier Division. It may only be August and a one goal better difference than Hitchin (2 more than Kettering), but it was the manner of the 4-1 victory that had Hendon fans leaving with beaming grins on their faces.

To a neutral, the Camrose must have seemed a very confusing place; the Camrose Blues (Basingstoke) were in mainly yellow shirts and the Greens (Hendon) wore predominantly white. Admittedly both teams wore shorts in keeping with their nicknames.

In the opening 15 minutes, Hendon were distinctly fortunate to be not only on level terms in goals, but also in personnel on the field. Basingstoke had the ball in the net after 55 seconds, but an offside flag ruled out that score.

Then in the 9th minute, Hendon goalkeeper Dave King came out of his penalty area and upended Craig McAllister as they both went for the ball. There was no doubt about the foul, but referee Mr Barnard-Smith showed the keeper leniency and produced only a yellow card. The free-kick was wasted, Jamie Burgess charging out of the wall to block the shot.

It was hardly a surprise when Basingstoke took the lead, although there were at least two hints of good fortune about it. Firstly, Steve Forbes was distinctly unlucky to lose possession of a high bouncing ball, then after Neville Roach was released down the right wing, McALLISTER was credited with the last touch ialthough it looked as if a Hendon defender may have got it.

The goal was the spur Hendon needed to get themselves roused. Martin Randall had the ball in the net, but he was ruled offside. Eugene Ofori then shot narrowly wide of Scott Tarr's goal. And it soon became clear that the home defence did not react well to concerted pressure.

Ofori stung Tarr's hands with a long-range shot and then had another effort blocked. Dale Binns and Iain Duncan swapped wings, which gave Ian Dickens some very anxious moments. None more so than in the last minute of the half, when Binns crossed from the right wing and Ofori powered a close-range header almost directly at the well-positioned Tarr. A yard either side would almost certainly have brought a goal.

The second half was pretty much one-way traffic, with Forbes and Andy Cook dominating midfield and Randall and Ofori causing chaos in the Camrose Blues' defence. Two minutes after the break Forbes fired narrowly wide after Ofori set him up.

Binns then fired a shot that bent a couple of yards wide of the post with Tarr nowhere near it. In the 54th minute, Randall jumped with Tarr for a ball and the goalkeeper lost it. The referee allowed play to continue and Randall headed towards the empty net, but Dickens ran back and hacked the ball clear.

In the 63rd minute, Hendon made a double substitution, Scott Cousins and Ricci Crace replacing Duncan and Randall. It took less than 3 minutes for the double-switch to look like a stroke of genius.

A rare Basingstoke raid broke down on the solid rearguard of Mark Cooper and Steve Butler and the ball was quickly fed to Forbes, who raced through the middle of the field. He spread the ball out to the right where Crace was alone.

Crace, at great pace, cut in towards the penalty area and delivered a slide-rule pass into the path of OFORI, who needed no second bidding to sweep a low shot past Tarr and into the net. It was a magnificent piece of counter-attacking.

In the 77th minute, a cross from Binns drew Tarr off his line, but the ball was deliberately curled away from the keeper, who got barely a touch on the ball. Cousins controlled it and his pass gave OFORI the chance to bag his second goal of the night.

Six minutes later it was 3-1. This time Richard Evans started the move, Forbes continued it to Cousins, whose pass to CRACE was gleefully smashed home.

In stoppage time, as Hendon played with the ball in the corner, they managed to work an opening for goal number 4. Jason Bristow tried to clear the ball, but he was beaten to it by Burgess, who redirected it into the penalty area. Waiting to pounce was CRACE, who grabbed his second of the night.

This goal was a hammer blow for Hendon fan Dave Garner. He had bet on Hendon to win 3-1, and Crace's second goal cost him £140!

Hendon boss Dave Anderson had no such worries. He said, "We were very sloppy in the first 30 minutes, but in the second half we were magnificent."