Horsham maintained their promotion play-off hopes with this victory over Hendon but were made to fight all the way by their struggling opponents. The visitors dominated much of the opening 45 minutes and, with better luck in front of goal, could have been out of sight by the break. The Hornets lacked cohesion throughout a frustrating first half and it was thanks to the heroics of  Josh Pelling and Jack Page that they turned round just a goal in arrears at the interval. No doubt stung by John Maggs' half-time team talk, the home side produced a much improved second half display and hit Hendon with two goals inside seven minutes to take control before wrapping things up with a third goal, twelve minutes from time.

Horsham have found Hendon a tough nut to crack since being promoted to the Premier Division, winning just one of the previous seven meetings, and back-to-back home defeats to Gary McCann's side perhaps gave the Greens the psychological advantage ahead of this match. But defeats against Wealdstone and Boreham Wood earlier in the week suggested that confidence was unlikely to be in abundance in the Hendon camp, especially given the way that Horsham had so emphatically ended Ashford Town's tremendous run of form last midweek. Maggs kept to his promise in fielding an unchanged side from that game, meaning another start for teenagers Adam Hutchings and Tony Nwachukwu, but there was a new face on the bench with recent arrival Chris Riley teaming up again with his fit again former Spurs team-mate Claude Seanla. Hendon showed several changes from that which lost narrowly at Boreham Wood on Tuesday, with Craig Vargas and Bradley Woods-Garness dropping to the bench in favour of James Bent and James Burgess, while Lee O'Leary returned to the midfield with Scott Cousins moving to full-back. 

On a gluepot of a pitch, it was the visitors who started the game the brightest and they were inches away from taking the lead in their first attack when a clever back heel from Farnborough loanee Anthony Thomas gave Burgess time to fire a shot just wide of goal. It was a lively start and Horsham replied immediately when Nwachukwu and Jack Page combined down the right flank but Ben Andrews' knock down, from Page's cross, was just too far ahead of Pat Harding and the ball was cleared. From the throw, Alex Haddow's first-time volley cleared the crossbar by some distance.

Steve Sargent then went close after Harding had chased a seemingly lost cause to lay the ball off for Andrews to cross in to the box but there was an anxious moment at the other end when Sam Page, playing against his former club, was cautioned for felling Bent on the edge of the 'D' but Busby's free-kick went straight through the wall and in to the safe arms of Pelling. The young goalkeeper was given a far greater test, minutes later, when Thomas held the ball up for Busby to hit a speculative shot that looked to be dipping under the crossbar only for Pelling's outstretched fingers to tip the ball over the top.

The lively Thomas and Casey MacLaren were causing plenty of problems for the Hornets defence and the home goal led a charmed existence on 12 minutes when both were involved in a frantic spell of pressure that saw MacLaren's shot charged down before the follow up was cleared off the line by Jack Page. With Pelling only able to parry the next effort, Page was there once again to prevent the ball from entering the net with another goal-line clearance. Horsham's nervy start continued when a mix up between Pelling and Anthony Acheampong saw the lanky defender head the ball over his own 'keeper and all eyes were on referee Brook as MacLaren went to ground under the untidy challenge of the retreating Pelling. The decision to award just a goal-kick received mixed reactions from the two benches !

After such an action-packed start the game settled down in to a scrappy battle, not helped by a deluge of sleet and hailstones that had supporters scampering for cover in the makeshift stands. Nwachukwu was booked for a thigh high challenge on O'Leary but things got worse for the home side when they fell behind on the half hour. Again Hendon's frontrunners linked up with good purpose and, when MacLaren's precise pass unlocked the Hornets' defence, Thomas drilled the ball under Pelling and inside the post to give the visitors a deserved lead. The advantage was almost doubled in comical fashion when Pelling horribly miscued Mark Knee's backpass, slicing the ball against MacLaren's head and watching with some relief as the ball looped over the crossbar from eight yards.

It was time for a change and Maggs removed the blameless Hutchings in favour of Steve Davies who linked up in the midfield with Sargent, who might have considered himself fortune not to have been replaced after an uncharacteristically sloppy performance. However, the reshuffle had its desired effect as the Hornets upped their game for the remaining minutes of the half and a determined run from Jack Page earned his side a corner from which Harding dropped a header on to the roof of the net from close range. A poor clearance from Hendon 'keeper James Reading gifted the ball to Haddow and, when he found Andrews on the edge of the box, the ex-Worthing man turned well but was frustrated to see his goalbound shot deflected wide. The pressure continued on Reading's goal when Knee's free-kick was flicked on by Andrews to Sam Page and the captain's instinctive volley was turned over the top with some difficulty by the goalkeeper to provide some encouragement for the home faithful at the break.

H/T Horsham 0 Hendon 1

However, it was Hendon that almost seized the early initiative after the restart when Busby was allowed to carry the ball through the middle only to shoot, unchallenged, in to the safety net behind the goal. Seconds later, Thomas put Busby away with an astute pass but Pelling was quickly off his line to block. A heavy touch from Andrews enabled Reading to make a brave save, after a good ball from Jack Page, but the big target man was more effective from his head on 58 minutes when he played his part in Horsham's equalising goal. Sargent flighted a free-kick in to the box where Andrews rose highest to flick on to Sam Page who sent a crisp volley in to the net, via the underside of the crossbar.

The goal raised the tempo of Horsham's performance and Andrews' frustration at being illegally stopped from making further headway prompted a brief flare-up midway in the Hendon half for which both Andrews and his 'assailant', Bradley Thomas, were given a stiff lecture by Mr Brook. There was more than adequate revenge, though, for Andrews and his team-mates when Haddow's long range free-kick somehow made it through a body of players and rebounded off the foot of the post before being tucked away by the predatory Harding to give the hosts a 2-1 lead. From the restart, Burgess raced towards goal and played a quick one-two with Anthony Thomas only to be thwarted at the near post by Pelling.

Andrews hobbled off with what looked like a foot injury, with twenty minutes remaining, to be replaced by Seanla and Hendon made a switch of their own with Belal Aiteouakrim coming on for Bradley Thomas. The Hornets had a great chance to increase their lead when a Hendon attack broke down, leaving Horsham with a four on one break. Nwachukwu led the charge and his pass to Harding looked the right option until Burgess slid in with a tremendous covering tackle to prevent the striker from getting his shot on target. That proved to be Nwachukwu's final involvement in the game after he was hauled off to good applause in favour of Sam Tucknott in what was a straight swap between the two widemen.

The substitution proved to be inspirational when, from the resulting corner, Tucknott's first touch was to return the ball in to the near post where Harding nipped in ahead of the 'keeper to head his 16th goal of the season. To their credit, Hendon continued to take the fight to their hosts and Pelling had to be alert again to prevent Scott Cousins from cutting the deficit from close range. Aiteouakarim, back at the club after spells with AFC Wimbledon and Maidenhead United, showed good feet to skip past a couple of challenges on the edge of the box but could only drag his shot wide of the far post before Peter Dean entered the fray at the expense of Bent for the closing moments of the game.

Despite the scoreline Pelling remained the busier of the two goalkeepers and, when Busby received a deep free-kick, wide on the right, Dave Diedhiou joined the attack to receive his team-mate's pass and arrow a shot towards the near post where it was pushed away by Pelling, one-handed. From the resulting corner, Casey MacLaren beat the 'keeper to the punch to send a header just wide of the angle of post and crossbar.

Harding had the chance to claim his hat-trick in injury time when Mr Brook waved play on after Haddow had appeared to have been fouled inside the box but he deliberated too long and eventually laid the ball off to Tucknott who shot high and wide. There was just time for Acheampong to crown a troubled afternoon for the centre-half when he was cautioned for a needless, and fairly wild, challenge on Dean inside the centre-circle before Horsham could celebrate back-to-back league wins for the first time since November.

NEXT MATCH: v Dartford (h) Tuesday 23rd February ko 7.30pm