Hendon dropped into the Southern League Premier Division South after comfortably being seen off by leaders Poole Town in a 3-1 loss.

Ollie Dennett put Poole in the lead after 25 minutes before Marvin Brooks and Jez Bedford extended their lead further, while Francis Amartey pulled one back for Hendon with 15 minutes remaining.

Jimmy Gray made four changes to the side that was fielded against Deeping Rangers last week as Howard Hall, Charlie Smith, Matty Harriott and Tom Nyama dropped out for Romario Jones, Sergio Manesio, Lee Chappell and Amartey.

Poole’s confidence given their league position was evident from the off, and they dominated possession and chances even before they took the lead midway through the first half.

Josh Carmichael’s long-range effort had Chris Grace beaten but crashed back off the post, however Hendon’s defence lost sight of the ball and Dennett was there to nod the rebound over the line.

Amartey proceeded to waste numerous opportunities for Hendon both in the remains of the first half and at the start of the second, and it came back to bite the side as a defensive error allowed Poole to extended their lead.

A high, hanging free-kick should have been claimed by Grace, but he dropped the ball on his way down to the feet of Brooks who rolled into an empty net.

Another mistake at the back led to Poole’s third. The ball was played back to Grace but he was forced to hurry his clearance with the attackers closing. The resulting throw-in was worked inside to Bedford, and he finished clinically to well and truly see off the hosts.

There was to be some reprieve for Hendon though, who were awarded a penalty when Will Spetch tripped Amartey in the area.

The forward dusted himself down to net from the spot, but that was as good as it got for the home side.

In fact, they momentarily thought it had got worse just two minutes after scoring when the referee brandished the red card to Kam English, but the official realised his error and instead showed the yellow card he had originally meant to raise.

The result leaves Hendon a point adrift in the relegation zone behind Dorchester Town, while their next game sees them visit Walton Casuals in the Southern League Challenge Cup tomorrow night at 7.45pm.