For the first time this season Hendon put together a cohesive performance for most of the ninety minutes against Hanworth Villa at Silver Jubilee Park on Bank Holiday Monday, and as a result shared the points in a goalless draw.

To be fair neither side really looked like scoring, though the Greens came close on three or four occasions. Hanworth created very little, and Josh Strizovic had an easy afternoon, barely having to exert himself to make any saves. The home defence looked strong, with Nikolai Krokhin, well supported by Javon Marquis and Tariq Straker, giving an outstanding display.

The home side made three changes (one positional) to the team at South Park on Saturday. Club captain Dave Diedhiou was unfit, Marquis moving from right-back to wear the #5 shirt, and Bradley Dixon-Smith taking the #2 shirt in his competitive debut for the club – he had previously been serving a suspension carried over from last season. Keagan Cole replaced Rhys Murrell-Williamson in the #7 shirt, also taking over the captain’s armband for the day ahead of vice-captain Niko Muir – the reason for this became clearer at half-time. Gael Kileba replaced the unfit Corey Parchment on the bench.

Hendon appeared to play a 3-5-2 formation for this match, probably forced on them as they only had one fit central defender, namely Krokhin. Marquis and Straker played either side of him. Tobi Adaje played wide right, and Dixon-Smith wide left, with Rohdell Gordon and Jordan Grey in central midfield together with Cole, who frequently advanced to support the front pairing of Sam Shaban and Muir.

The game took place in hotter than expected conditions, with official drinks breaks in each half, together with several unofficial ones taken when players were being treated for injuries. The referee, who had a good match, did not bring the physios on for any injury until just before half-time unless a head injury was involved, preferring instead to let the injured player recover in his own time – this had the effect of giving the other players some rest from their exertions in the heat. Shortly before the interval Straker received his third injury of the half and this prompted the referee to call the home physio on. Having already played over 4 minutes of additional time, the referee blew for half-time before Straker’s treatment had ended; presumably, there were only a few seconds left in the half.

When the match began, Hendon nearly repeated their early score at South Park. This time Shaban got clear of the defence, but Hanworth’s goalkeeper saved his shot. The ball rebounded and struck the onrushing Cole on the knee, looping towards but dropping just outside the far post. The Greens had the better of the first half, with Dixon-Smith being a lively contributor on the left. Hanworth had their moments but found it difficult to get past Krokhin; if they did, Marquis particularly, and Straker provided the cover needed.

Shortly before half-time Hendon won a free kick just outside the opponents’ penalty area following a handball in a challenge. Hanworth lined the wall up, and both Gordon and Dixon-Smith prepared to take the kick. Dixon-Smith did, left-footed, and his shot missed the target by less than six inches. Shortly after this came Straker’s third injury of the half, and the half-time whistle.

During half-time Muir stayed out on the field with the club’s fitness coach, doing some running and passing a ball between each other. This led to suspicions that Muir was carrying a knock, and in fact he limped off just after the hour mark of the match and was replaced by Ada. When leaving the field after the end of the match he was limping heavily.

The second half was rather uneventful, though Dixon-Smith had the Hanworth ‘keeper scrambling for a shot which again ended just wide. There were a couple of drink breaks and the usual raft of substitutions, the visitors making four and Hendon two besides the Muir/Ada change previously mentioned. The vaguely interesting one was Hendon’s second, when Dixon-Smith, whose calf muscles were beginning to tighten, was replaced by his near namesake, Smith – both having the first name Bradley!

Not too long after that change was made, the referee brought a halt to proceedings, neither side having found the net.

This was a result that neither side would have been completely happy with. Despite a 4-0 demolition of Met. Police in their opening league match, Hanworth had not been in particularly good form and had exited the FA Cup after a replay. Hendon had lost three of their four matches to date and drawn the other, however, a first competitive clean sheet since 26th November last year will have been extremely welcome to management, players, and supporters alike.

Hendon’s top priority is to produce a solid defence, one that is unlikely to give many goals away. If they can keep more clean sheets in the next few matches, the defence will gain in confidence, and that should then start to spread to the whole team.