Hendon U21s were beaten by a determined St John Arsenal Deaf team in their return match in the Cherry Red Books Middlesex County League Division 1 Central & East at the Walker Cricket Ground, Southgate.

It was a see-saw contest, but one in which Hendon never held the lead.

Two goals in the first 20 minutes saw the hosts take a deserved lead, an England Deaf international player – who did not play in the game at John Lyon School last week – making all the difference, and he would grab a hat-trick.

Hendon did pull a goal back after 31 minutes when Rory LINCOLN scored, but three minutes later, it was 3–1. Daryl ATKINS made it 3–2 just before the break and Dylan AGGAKO levelled the game in the opening seconds of the second half.

That was as good as it got for Hendon, because St John Arsenal Deaf regained their lead just five minutes later and scored what proved to be the game’s final goal just after the hour mark.

Disappointed Hendon manager Eamon Finn said: “It was real end-to-end stuff today, but we didn’t play as well as we could. It was a very good game, and we couldn’t cope with their England Deaf international. My man of the match was my skipper Niall HAUGHTON, who led by example and had an excellent game.”