Hendon got off to the perfect start under new coach John Cassalaspro, beating Chess Valley 15-8 in the Herts-Middlesex League 2.

It was Chess Valley who opened the scoring, converting a long-range penalty after five minutes.

Hendon looked to have got into the game when winger Adam Johnson crossed the line for their opening try, only to be called back for a foot in touch and a line-out awarded to Chess Valley.

Hosts Hendon were now well on top and started to dominate. Up front, Mark Munroe and Liam Murphy were causing problems for the Chess Valley defence and the centre partnership of John McCarty and Toby Ikwueke were making inroads every time they got the ball.

The pressure resulted in a try for Hendon as Terrance Gilbride got over the white wash to make it 5-3. Debutant Cian Hynes missed the conversion but Hendon were back down again for another score when Dan Ledger finished off a great move involving captain Gerry O’Donoghue, to leave Hendon 10-3 up at half time.

In the second half, Chess Valley rallied again but some great defending by Paul McDermott and man-of-the-match Tom Matthias kept the away side out.

Hendon then scored their second try attacking from deep, with at least ten pairs of hands getting on the ball before Johnson touched down in the corner.

With Hendon down to 14 men for ten minutes following a late tackle by McDermott, Chess Valley pushed over for a try to leave the match poised for a grandstand finale.

Both teams pushed for another try and Hendon attacked dangerously through Brian O’Regan and substitute Tommy Middleton, but they were unable to force another score and saw out the win.