Hendon U21s won their first match of 2011, coming out on top of St John Arsenal Deaf in a seven-goal thriller at John Lyon School.

They could not have made a better start to the Cherry Red Books Middlesex County League Division 1 Central & East contest, opening the scoring inside 45 seconds, Freddie BOFFA the marksman, after he was sent clear down the middle.

Midway through the first half, St John Arsenal Deaf drew level, but Hendon regained the lead just before half-time when Ercan Yildirim set up Dylan AGGAKO.

Seven minutes into the second half, BOFFA scored his second goal of the afternoon, this time with a fine long-range strike. But the game was far from over, especially when the visitors reduced the arrears with 11 minutes remaining.

Three minutes later, the two goal advantage was restored when a Boffa corner was put into the back of the net by Daryl ATKINS. It proved to be the back-breaker for St John Arsenal Deaf, and although they again halved the deficit, the match was deep in stoppage time and they had no time to get a fourth goal.

“The boys played very well today,” said delighted manager Eamon Finn. “They were more composed and showed better concentration and I am very pleased that we made something of our chances this week. My man of the match was Freddie BOFFA, who not only played very well, but also he scored two goals and had an assist into the bargain.”