Hendon's revival came to a screeching halt at Silver Jubilee Park on Saturday afternoon as they went down 4-0 against fellow strugglers Gosport Borough.

With Luke Tingey suspended following his late dismissal at Merthyr, Jimmy Gray shuffled his pack bringing in Howard Hall and reverting to a flat-back four whilst Connor Calcutt replaced Ogo Obi up front.

Although the Greens showed up well early on, it didn' take long for Gosport to take the lead. A left-wing cross found Tony Lee in acres of space at the far post and he needed no second invitation to plant a free header beyond Boness in the 19th minute.

Aside from an angled Calcutt strike, which romped into the side-netting, and a Darren Locke effort from a set piece which missed the target, the hosts struggled to create anything of note but appeared to be handed a way back into proceedings in the 39th minute.

Gosport's midfield schemer, Mike Carter, had been cautioned only a few minutes previously for an emphatic shirt-tug on Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick as the Hendon winger scorched past him down the right flank, and a coming together between the same two players, this time on the left-flank, saw the referee issue a second yellow swiftly followed by a red.

Within a minute, though, Hendon's molehill had become more mountainous in size following a wonderful piece of individual skill that deserved a far greater audience than the 226 in attendance. Hendon's set-piece after the dismissal was cleared deep into Hendon territory. Danny Boness alert to the danger, came out of his penalty area to head clear yet as the ball fell, Gosport substitute George Baker, who had replaced player-manager Craig McAllister early on, perhaps a step inside his own half struck a wonderful volley on the full which flew and dipped over the frantically back-peddling Boness high into the net. The technique displayed by Baker was arguably even better given that when he hit the ball he was stretching and perpendicular to the ground.

Those of a Greenish hue were hoping for a reaction after the break from their men but, despite plenty of huff and puff, they resorted to a number of long-balls to Calcutt who, in spite of a man advantage, was left largely isolated. The better and more cohesive football continued to come from the visitors.

Lee grabbed his second of the afternoon ten minutes after the break when he curled a low shot towards goal which took the slightest of deflections off the knee of Locke and that was enough to take the ball beyond the full-stretch dive of Boness and into the bottom corner.

The concession of a fourth goal with twenty minutes remaining summed up the hosts' afternoon as Boness, trying to deal with a backpass, found his touch too heavy as he tried to shift the ball onto his right foot and Ryan Pennery had the simplest of tasks to stroke the ball into an empty net to complete as comprehensive an away performance as the small away following could have wished to have seen.