The second half started in dramatic fashion with Parkway’s first attack on 48 minutes being halted just outside the penalty area by a crude challenge by Diedhiou on Crago.

Diedhiou was duly sent off after receiving his second yellow card within 5 minutes of his first. Guri Demuria then replaced Shaun Lucien for Hendon as they looked to reorganise and adjust their formation. Parkway began to push forward with the hosts dropping deep and looking to play on the counter.

Garside and Rose combined well on 50 minutes with Al Droubi doing well to gather a loose ball under pressure from Crago. Rose then saw his ambitious effort from around 40 yards fly well over as Parkway continued to press for an equaliser.

Parkway began to dominate possession but their play in the final third lacked quality, composure or penetration with Hendon defending comfortably and Al Droubi remaining untested.

On 52 minutes Hendon broke clear with the powerful and pacey Muir-Marchant reaching the bye line with his cross being blocked.

Parkway made a double substitution on 57 minutes with Hall and Aaron Goulty replacing Down and Billington. Parkway continued to push forward leaving gaps at the back but were unable to create any clear chances or breach a solid Hendon defence with Al Droubi dealing comfortably with a series of poorly directed crosses as Parkway frustration began to creep in.

On 61 minutes Parkway fell further behind to a counter attack. A long ball out to the left to Muir-Marchant saw him race in behind the exposed Parkway defence and fire in a powerful drive into the far corner giving Lee no chance. Parkway continued to have plenty of possession in the Hendon half but remained unable to penetrate into final third with crosses and final passes lacking direction or troubling the host’s defence which remained solid.

On 68 minutes another Hendon counter yet again found Muir-Marchant going clear on the right with Lee pulling off a superb save to keep the score at 3-1 with the ball flying behind for a corner.

Hendon continued to defend in numbers restricting Parkway to shooting from distance with King firing wildly over on 70 minutes with Garside also failing to test the keeper with his effort on 72 minutes.

Lane and Garside then linked well to set up Hall whose shot from around 20 yards was easily saved by Al Droubi. Parkway continued to look to create openings but remained susceptible to the counter attack with Muir-Marchant and White caught narrowly offside on 75 minutes as they threatened to break clear.

On 77 minutes Parkway created a good opportunity to reduce the deficit only for Bath to blast well over from around 8 yards after being set up by Goulty. With desperation creeping into the Parkway ranks,

Hendon almost increased their lead on 78 minutes. Lee did well to block a shot from White with Rose heading behind from the resultant corner as the Parkway defence came under pressure with the hosts looking the more likely to score from their counter attacks.

Approaching full time Hendon were content to slow the game down and see it out with Brooks seeing yellow on 85 minutes for leaving the field too slowly after being substituted by Rohdell Gordon.

Parkway continued to look for a late push and get something from the game but their approach play lacked the quality to trouble the Hendon defence with Al Droubi remaining relatively untested and continuing to easily gather poorly delivered crosses.

Parkway huffed and puffed during the 7 minutes of added time but were unable to make any headway with Rooney seeing yellow as Hendon comfortably saw the game out with the highly impressive Muir-Marchant being substituted late on by Frank Keita.

Despite taking an early lead and playing against 10 men for almost all of the second half, a below par all round performance by Parkway saw a stubborn and determined Hendon run out deserved winners for their first win in 10 games.

Mistakes at the back and a lack of a cutting edge in the final third cost Parkway the game against a side scrapping for points as they look to climb away from the relegation zone and Parkway can have no real complaints on the outcome. Parkway drop a place to 13th and are now 10 points clear of the drop zone.

Parkway now have a short rest and recovery period before they embark on a run of 4 consecutive home games in the next 2 weeks starting on Tuesday when 17th placed Gosport Borough visit Bolitho Park.

Gosport beat Parkway 5-1 in the reverse fixture back in late August and will arrive off the back of a 2-2 draw at Dorchester Town on Saturday. Parkway must ensure they capitalise on these games as they look to consolidate their league position and not get drawn back towards the relegation zone.