Hendon were made to work hard for their narrow FA Cup victory by an enterprising AFC Rushden & Diamonds side in a tense encounter at Earlsmead.

The match was a very even affair, with both sides cancelling each other out for the bulk of it: the opening 20 minutes saw little of note aside from an early substitution for Hendon, with Aaron Morgan replacing the injured Kezie Ibe.

This enforced change created further disruption for Hendon, who were already forced into several changes due to injuries with the Maclaren brothers and Chris Seeby notable absentees. The main impact of these changes was that Hendon were denied Seeby’s excellent attacking contributions down the right wing.

The visitors, cheered on by some magnificent away support, might well have taken the lead in the first half, with only a breath-taking save from McNamara in the Hendon goal preventing a header giving the Diamonds the lead. The Diamonds had already showed some menace with a number of shots on and off target and frequently threatened to take the lead, with only some last ditch defending by the Greens keeping the score line even.

Hendon themselves had a number of chances, including a header from Morgan that went wide and a couple of speculative free kicks. The home side thought they had seized the initiative after Elliott Brathwaite poked the ball in from a corner, but the goal was rightly denied due to an offside decision, meaning that the first half ended goalless.

Both sides pressed throughout the second half, notching up several attempts on goal between them. The visitors had a penetrating attack, bringing another good save out of McNamara, before Hendon launched a promising counterattack, although Morgan could not find his way through the Diamonds’ defence. The away team saw a dangerous cross headed out by the Hendon defence for a corner, a dangerous passage that preceded Hendon taking the lead through Leon Smith.

He was played through after some deft approach play, but there was still a lot for him to do. He cut back in to leave the Diamonds keeper sprawling on the deck, before jinking past another two defenders before rifling home a shot, three defenders on the line unable to block the shot.

The goal was followed by a change for the Greens, Tony Taggart replacing Andre de Costa. Almost immediately, Hendon very nearly doubled their lead, Smith seeing his powerful drive take a slight deflection off a defender before cannoning onto the visitors' crossbar.

Taggart quickly found himself in the referee's notebook for a petulant trip on the Rushden goalkeeper before the visitors nearly equalised – an attacker just failing to connect with a cross with his head.
Smith nearly notched a second for the Greens soon after, flicking a header just wide, before he was substituted - replaced by Richard Worrell in the closing stages. These final minutes were a tense time for the home side as Rushden & Diamonds threw men forward looking to force the game to a replay. They nearly achieved their ambition, with an acrobatic shot in injury time flashing just wide of the post.

Hendon clung on to their narrow lead, though, and were relieved to be able to look forward to their name going in the hat for the next round.

The visitors and their excellent support can feel unlucky that they were unable to force a draw, having performed in a way that that suggested they certainly belong at a higher level.