Hendon got the new season off to a winning start this Saturday at Vale Farm, a solitary penalty being enough to beat visitors Concord Rangers thanks to an excellent rearguard action from the Greens. The Beachboys, by contrast, will have left wondering how they came away with nothing for the second season running after running the show for much of the game.

Hendon lined up with three new faces in the starting eleven alongside one who was returning after five seasons away from the club. Ryan Wharton was the returning player, starting in the right-back slot the Greens have struggled to fill in recent years, while Elliott Brathwaite made his debut at centre-back, looking to form a new partnership alongside Michael Peacock. Carl McCluskey and Elliott Godfrey made up trio of debutants, playing similar roles to add to the Greens' attacking options.

A downpour from 1pm made for a slick surface, and perhaps contributed a little to the apparent display of first day nerves from both sides in a disappointing first half from both sides. Concord had the first chance as a hopeful cross from the right was dropped by Berkley Laurencin at his feet with the ever dangerous Harry Elmes in close attention. Fortunately for the goalkeeper though, he was able to recover the situation and smother the ball before Elmes could get a touch.

The visitors appeared buoyed by this and retained possession well but appeared to lack a cutting edge up front while Hendon's midfield seemed to find it difficult to get forward to support a tireless Greg Ngyoi up front. Nonetheless, the Greens did have the ball in the net on 18 minutes after Casey Maclaren fed Ngyoi a through ball, only to see the offside flag raised and the effort ruled out.

At the other end, Concord seemed reliant on set-pieces to unduly trouble the home side, with Nick Cowley seemingly at the centre, whether starting the move or not. A long throw into the 6 yard box gave Richard Halle a chance to head at goal, only to find the well-positioned Laurencin, while a corner played to the edge of the penalty area allowed Cowley a chance, albeit one that was blocked before troubling the home goal.

Indeed the only real incidents of note in an unspectacular half were a spate of yellow cards. Casey Maclaren earned his following a late challenge on Cowley, while Godfrey was booked after catching an opponent with his arm in an aerial challenge and Concord saw Halle booked after catching James Busby. All could have seen red with a more fussy official, but the referee chose to err on the side of caution with none of fouls really constituting dangerous play.

Fortunately for those in attendance, both sides stepped things up for the second half and what had been a turgid affair for the first 45 minutes turned into an enthralling battle between the two teams.

The catalyst for this change was a run down the right wing from Godfrey just two minutes after the restart. He played the ball across to Ngyoi who took a few steps into the penalty area, and drawing the defenders he saw Casey Maclaren's surging run to his left. Maclaren ran at goalkeeper Dale Brightly and managed to skip around the experienced custodian, but as he steadied himself to shoot Halle brought the midfielder down.

The referee had no option but to point to the penalty spot, but showed leniency to Halle in declining to show a second yellow card and the inevitable red. However, Jamie Busby imposed his own punishment as he stepped up and fired home past Brightly's despairing dive.

Concord took a little time to react to going behind, but in the final third they stepped up their game and provided the first serious test for Hendon's new defence. Elmes and his partner up front, Elliott Charles, proved a real handful for Peacock and Braithwaite, while both Wharton and Scott Cousins had their hands full protecting the flanks.

Elmes had the first serious effort on 62 minutes with a powerful drive from 25 yards that was blocked by Braithwaite, then a minute later Michael Noone fed Seb Dunbar down the left wing, only for the latter's cross to be hurriedly cleared by Peacock.

Concord took advantage of a break in play following a Busby shot that went wide of the left post to bring on fresh legs in Tyler Campbell and former Hendon defender Sam Collins, now playing in a midfield role, and this allowed them to further up the tempo. It took just a minute for them to combine, Collins winning an ariel challenge and knocking the ball down to Campbell who fired over.

With the pressure that was beginning to be put onto the Greens' defence a goal seemed inevitable - it was situations like these that Hendon were unable to cope with last season - but they proved equal to everything that Concord could throw at them and often the Essex side were reduced to long range efforts that were either blocked or went wide.

James Elmes eventually managed to break through the rearguard on 78 minutes, latching onto an excellent through ball, but as he advanced on Laurencin, the goalkeeper closed the angle causing Elmes snatched slightly at his attempted lob, clearing not only Laurencin, but also the crossbar.

James Elmes and Tyler Campbell proved central to the Beachboys' continuing probing, but other than a failed attempt to claim a corner, Laurencin was never unduly troubled thanks to the efforts of his defence and the Greens were able to hold on for a hard earned three points.

"I'm delighted with the result, and even more so the defensive performance from the back five this afternoon," enthused manager Gary McCann. "One of the things we've worked hard on in pre-season is to make ourselves hard to beat, and last season we would have lost that game. Our passing and possession going forward could have been better, but that is something we can work on."