Late strike keeps Hendon on course for the title

Hendon United manager Alex Rosenthal believes it’s only a matter of time before his side are crowned Maccabi GB Southern Football League Premier Division champions after they played out a 1-1 draw against their nearest rivals on Sunday morning.
Going into the match four points clear of HMH A, albeit having played a game more, they knew a victory would secure them an eighth league title – and the first in three years. HMH had to win to keep alive their hopes and they got off to the perfect start when Oscar Wagner put them ahead after just three minutes.
While Hendon enjoyed the majority of the possession as the game unfolded, they had to wait until the 81st minute to draw level when Akiva Restan fired home but were unable to claim the winner. Rosenthal said afterwards: “I’m very confident we can now finish the job.”
Elsewhere in the topflight, third travelled to fourth, and somewhat unsurprisingly the sides played out a 2-2 draw as London Athletico conceded an equaliser with the last kick of the game against Geez Park Rangers. Sam Baker’s header and a club debut strike from Joel Walters had seemingly put Athletico on their way to victory.
In the David Wolff Division Two Cup, Beitar Bushey booked themselves into the final with a 4-0 win at Mill Hill Minyan. Dan Mincer, Harley Conway and Mark Pearce all got on the scoresheet, with the fourth strike being an own goal.
There was a shock in a group stage tie of the Barry Goldstein Trophy as Division Two strugglers Bocher Juniors stunned Division One promotion hopefuls Mill Hill Dons 5-3. Solly Levy scored a hat-trick, with Dave Amor bagging the other two. Maccabi London Vets booked their place into the final of the Peter Morrison Trophy. They did, though, leave it late to secure a 4-2 win at MGBSFL Premier Division side Stoke Salmon, with Dean Nyman and Dominique Cheniart both scoring two goals each, three of the four arriving after the 89th minute. Scrabble moved joint-top of Division One in the Maccabi Masters Football League after beating Brady 2-1.
The visitors took a well-deserved lead through an excellent Scott Ansher solo goal, though Scrabble turned it round by half-time, with Mark Wagman and Tony Plaskow giving them a 2-1 half-time lead, which they held on to throughout the second half.
The bottom two in Division Two played out a five-goal thriller as Glenthorne came away from St John’s Wood Tigers with a 3-2 win to move them level on six points. Andy Diamond and Ben Simons scored for Harriers.
In Group A of the Nathan Horwitz Cup, two goals from Malcolm Joseph helped EHRS Stonegrove to a 4-0 win at St John’s Wood Tigers. Martin Seifert and an audacious backheel from Mark Kingston completed the scoring.
London Lions’ First XI’s promotion hopes took a dent as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Baldock Town while their Development team suffered a 5-1 home defeat to Hinton First, leaving them in 11th place in the Herts Senior County League ACERBIS Premier Division table.