Hendon were far too strong for their Zamaretto (Southern) League Division One Midlands rivals Barton Rovers in this preseason friendly at Sharpenhoe Road on Saturday afternoon, winning 4–0.

In the first half, Hendon took the lead after eight minutes, Dave Diedhiou doing well down the right flank and when the ball came across to Glenn GARNER on the left, he drove a powerful low drive into the net.

After 29 minutes, the lead was doubled. Diedhiou was again provider, but this time the scorer was Wayne O’SULLIVAN, also from from the left side as Hendon switched the ball from side to side with clinical efficiency.

The Hendon defence was rarely stretched and limited Barton to only two shots on target in the full 90 minutes. Both were reasonable efforts, but Berkley Lawrencin was equal to them making smart saves.

At half-time Hendon made a number of changes, James Burgess, Sam Berry, Brian Haule, Matt O’Brien and Harry Hunt replacing Jamie Busby, James Bent, Garner, Kevin Maclaren and O’Sullivan respectively).

The substitutions didn’t change the course of the match as the Greens remained on top and the lead was extended after 65 minutes when, after neat interplay with Peter Dean, HAULE found himself in a one-on-one with the Barton goalkeeper and beat him with a clever finish.

This was the signal for more substitutions, Danny Dyer, Lubomir Guentchev, Melvin Baptiste and Yacine Hamada taking over from Diedhiou, Mark Kirby, James Parker and Peter Dean respectively. On a very hot and sticky afternoon, Hendon ensure than none of the outfield players contested the full 90 minutes, so O’Sullivan returned for the final 13 minutes to give Craig Vargas a rest.

There was still time for a fourth goal and it arrived in the 83rd minute. Hamada and Guentchev combined neatly to cut open the Barton defence and GUENTCHEV finished a very good performance with an equally precise strike.

Manager Gary McCann said, “This was a good exercise for the squad. We have 20 players vying for the 11 shirts at the start of the season.

“As a performance it was full of energy and as comfortable as it could be. That said, we didn’t play quite as well as I would have liked.”

Team: Lawrencin, Diedhiou (Dyer, 66), Vargas (O’Sullivan, 77), Kirby (Guentchev, 66), Parker (Baptiste, 66), Busby (Burgess, HT), Bent (Berry, HT), Garner (Haule, HT), Dean (Hamada, 66), K. Maclaren (O’Brien, HT), O’Sullivan (Hunt, HT).