Lee Allinson lost for the first time as Hendon boss as they were defeat 2-0 away at Swindon Supermarine.

Harry Williams’ first-half brace was enough for Swindon to maintain their play-off position in the Southern League Premier Division South, while the Greens remain in trouble in the bottom three.

Goalkeeper Dante Baptiste and striker Wadah Ahmidi were handed debuts by Allinson, while Shaun Lucien returned for his second spell at the club and Tom Hamblin came back having been rested for the London Senior Cup win over Leyton Orient.

Both teams seemed jittery in the early exchanges, misplacing passes and failing to establish any sort of authority on the game.

The first effort came after five minutes when Hamblin spotted Martin Horsell off his line and attempted the spectacular from halfway. The keeper was wrong-footed, but managed to push the ball out for a corner.

As the half went on, Swindon’s league position started to become more telling and they were gaining a firm grip on the game. After 27 minutes, they broke the deadlock when Ryan Williams sent the ball into the area towards Williams to fire past Baptiste.

Within minutes, Williams doubled Swindon’s and his personal tally when some tidy build-up play between Stuart Fleetwood and James Guthrie made some space for him to tuck home.

The hosts’ goal-scorer had the chance to complete his hat-trick on the hour, but he twice managed to fire off target, much to Hendon’s relief.

The visitors remained competitive throughout the game and continued to push forward in search of a way back into the game, but the closest they came was when Lucien fired over from Baptiste’s long ball.

Hendon remain 20th in the league as a result of the defeat but could climb out of the drop zone with a win at home to Tiverton Town on Saturday. Prior to that though, they play Hayes & Yeading United at home tonight in the CSS League Cup.