Hendon's third consecutive Ryman League Premier Division victory and fifth match unbeaten overall put further clear water between them and the teams in danger of sinking out of the division. The vanquished were Lewes, three points adrift at the foot of the table and who are now left 12 points from safety with only 10 games remaining.

Adam Wallace was unavailable so Ben Pattie replaced him. The Hendon management team also didn't want to risk Tony Taggart for another start, so he dropped to the bench and Finnbar Robins came in for him. On the bench was 16-year-old Keagan Cole, who has progressed from the Greens' Under-18s team.

Lewes put out a mixture of youth and experience and played with a freedom that suggested they felt they had nothing to lose. They took the game to Hendon, but found Casey Maclaren and Addison Garnett in determined mood, while their wide players were unable to consistently get the better of Omar Vassell or Ollie Sprague.

Robins and Sprague combined on a few occasions to set up dangerous attacks down the left side, but the final ball was slightly lacking. It should be said that both teams also struggled on a pitch which was much drier than it had been on Saturday, but the bounce was inconsistent and Carl McCluskey was embarrassed by a rolled pass to him which took off and flew at mid-thigh level past him.

Lewes fans felt things were not going their way when what they thought was a certain corner was ruled a goal-kick. Just past the half-hour, they were baying for blood when Jonte Smith went down in a challenge in the D of the penalty area.

As both Garnett and Maclaren were close to the incident, it would have been hard to claim that it was an obvious goalscoring opportunity - especially as Smith did not have the ball under control - so the referee showed the yellow card.

Eight minutes before half-time, Hendon took the lead in simple fashion. Sprague nipped in front of Alex Laing, who had some justification in wondering why he was not warned of the imminent challenge.

Sprague quickly found McCluskey, whose long pass invited Robins to run onto the ball. He was too quick for Lee Carey and as Chris Winterton advanced from his goal, Robins rolled the ball past the goalkeeper into the net.

That goal gave Hendon confidence and clearly knocked back the Rocks. The exhortations from Winterton to the players in front of him to get their heads up fell largely on deaf ears and invited more Hendon attacking.

In first half stoppage time, Pattie worked himself and opening and fired a shot that Winterton saved well, at full stretch. He could not hold the ball and it rolled along the six-yard box for McCluskey to apply the coup de grace.

He didn't but only because of a brilliant last-ditch challenge from Leon Redwood at the expense of a corner. The delivery was good and Winterton made another fine save from the goalbound header, but no one could intervene as Maclaren smashed the ball into the goal.

Hendon made a change before the start of the second half, Taggart replacing Pattie and leaving Kezie Ibe pretty much the only out-and-out striker. It was now up to Lewes to force the pace, the back four, bolstered by the pairing of Dave Diedhiou and Mark Kirby in front of them, ensured Joe Wright had another largely untroubled evening.

Winterton was nearly undone by a bobble when he received a back-pass. His attempted clearance made contact with nothing other than air, but his ultimate embarrassment was saved because the back-pass had been directed of the upright. From the corner, McCluskey headed narrowly wide.

In the final 20 minutes, youngsters Brandon Adams and Cole took over from Ibe and Diedhiou, but Lewes had run out of ideas. Wright did make a couple of fine catches from crosses but most of the Rocks deliveries were not particularly dangerous.

Near to the end, Robins again found himself in space and ran directly at goal. Winterton was off his line quickly, so Robins attempted a lob. It was not quite high enough - and may have been going wide - but Winterton made a full length save.