Hendon continued to excite and terrify fans in equal measure with a schizophrenic display, the exciting bits coming as and when they raced into a two-goal lead; the terrifying ones as the opponents fought back. It meant that what had seemed to be a very comfortable start ended with a nerve-jangling finale as the Greens held on.

New signing Ryan Palmer and Casey Maclaren came in for the unavailable Sam Murphy and Aaron Morgan. With Peter Dean and Kevin Maclaren not fully match-fit and Tony Taggart, Sam Flegg and Kezie Ibe also out, it meant seven players - not all of whom would have been starters were missing from the starting line-up.

That said, Hendon made a very good start and nearly took the lead after 12 minutes when Lee O'Leary burst into the penalty area. He steadied himself before firing at goal, but Louis Wells made a fine low save.

Leatherhead's defence struggled to deal with Hendon's superb passing and they were ripped open again, in the 17th minute, this time set up by Dave Diedhiou. Leon Smith got the better of Joe Bruce before drilling the ball past the hopelessly exposed Wells.

Four minutes later, the Greens doubled the advantage when Smith finished off from close range after Andre Da Costa had struck a low shot into the striker's path. The finish might have been simple, but the approach play had again been magnificent.

Hendon's inability to hold onto two-goal advantages was brought into sharp focus after half an hour when a brilliant, low strike from Matt Smart arrowed into the bottom corner. As good as the shot was, the Hendon defence was very slow to close down the space in front of the Tanners' skipper, making his shot much easier.

The Greens were, however, quick to regain their two-goal advantage when Ollie Sprague made a run down the left wing and delivered a teasing far post cross. Arriving late, and rising magnificently, Maclaren powered a header across into Wells into the opposite side netting.

There were no more goals before half-time, but Hendon went into the dressing rooms comfortably in the driving seat.

They were, however, forced into a change when Maclaren admitted to feeling a twinge in a muscle. With the FA Cup tie looming three days later, he was not going to be risked so Max McCann took over for him.

The second half was difficult for the Greens as Leatherhead upped the tempo and took control. They applied plenty of pressure but Elliott Brathwaite and James Fisher were able to keep the Tanners' front two at arms' length.

On the rare occasions they did get a sight of goal, the Leatherhead shooting was usually wayward or not too difficult for Ben McNamara. However, midway through the half Becka Kah Dembele took a chance when it came to him.

McNamara then distinguished himself with a brilliant full length save to tip the ball around a post. Hendon had their first opening and nearly made it 4-2 when Da Costa danced along the goalline, but his layback to Smith was deflected by a touch from a Leatherhead defender and his resulting shot was bravely blocked by Ryan Mahal.

With seven minutes of normal time remaining, Hendon withdrew Palmer and Smith and sent on Richard Worrell and Peter Dean. They provided two pairs of fresh legs, but they were forced to defend as deeply as Smith and Palmer had done.

Leatherhead were forced to play for the last few minutes when Kiernan Hughes-Mason was red-carded for a challenge on McNamara. The goalkeeper was incredibly brave as he dived for a loose ball and received a boot in the face from the striker.

It was a genuine attempt by the striker to play the ball but the modern interpretation of dangerous play has seen players dismissed for a raised foot which causes a serious injury - and McNamara suffered a very nasty facial injury as he and the ball ended up in the net.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Dean nearly made the game safe when he ran onto a pass from Worrell and beat Wells with a powerful drive. He might have been a step slow to react when the ball crashed off the underside of the crossbar, but he was nonetheless unlucky that a the rebound favoured the only Leatherhead defender in the vicinity.