Harlow Town 2 Hendon 4

FA Cup third qualifying round

Hendon have a good chance of reaching the first round proper of the FA Cup again.>

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Murphy in danger of going grey

Harlow Town 2 Hendon 4

FA Cup third qualifying round

Hendon have a good chance of reaching the first round proper of the FA Cup again.

Following a win over unbeaten Ryman League Second Division leaders Harlow on Saturday, they are home to either Bath City or Walton and Hersham in the fourth qualifying round on Saturday, October 31.

Said manager Frank Murphy: "I am pleased that we are drawn against a team from the same level, and, even more importantly, we've come out of the hat first. We've got a great chance to advance to the first round proper again."

For over an hour Hendon were in command but, for the third time in four weeks, the Dons were caught napping.

Murphy had mixed feelings about their performance, saying: "We played well for an hour but if we continue to let three-goal leads slip like this, I'll end up going grey."

Once again, Hendon were indebted to keeper Gary McCann for maintaining a blank scoresheet in the opening 20 minutes.

He blocked the prolific Wayne Cort's close-range shot after three minutes after he had latched onto a long pass from the back that caught the Hendon defence cold.

Hendon began to exert control midway through the half and it was little surprise when they took a 25th minute lead.

Mark Pye played a through ball to Junior Lewis, who had got behind Greg Pike and was played onside by Neil Moore. Lewis held off Pike's challenge and drilled the ball across keeper Darren Turpin just inside the far post.

Ten minutes later Hendon extended their lead when a long throw by Freddie Hyatt was touched on by Andy Cox causing Turpin to fumble, allowing Paul Whitmarsh to slam home from five yards.

The game looked safe when Lewis ran clear of the defence, sold the keeper a dummy, and slipped the ball into the net.

However, Wayne Falana sparked Harlow's fightback in the 73rd minute. He fed Marvin Samuels whose cross eluded everybody except Cort, who nodded home at the far post.

Within 90 seconds, Harlow were right back in the match. A long ball went over the top of the defence, and Salmon finished with a perfect lob over the onrushing McCann.

With over 16 minutes to go, Hendon had a fight on their hands, and Harlow should have completed an excellent comeback less than 30 seconds later, but Falana drove over from an excellent position.

With Hendon's fans becoming increasingly worried, the Dons midfield steadied the ship when Whitmarsh found the net with a rasping drive via the underside of the crossbar.

HENDON: McCann, Pye (Daly 87), Howard, White (64), Hyatt, Bateman, Cox, Fitzgerald (Maran 87), Clarke, Whitmarsh, Kelly, Lewis. Substitutes not used: Warmington, Gill (gk).

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