Nick Shinder insists Athletic Bilbaum must be taken seriously after they produced one of the results of the weekend as they came away from their trip to leaders Hendon B with a famous 2-1 victory.
Having lost heavily in the cup last week, Hendon couldn't have asked for a better start as within three minutes they took the lead. Avi Mocton's flick-on released Gideon Barth and he slid the ball calmly passed the Bilbaum keeper.
However, Hendon never really kicked on from that and Bilbaum dominated much of the half and were slightly unfortunate to go in at half-time still trailing.
Bilbaum deservedly equalised shortly after the break when the ball was flicked on by a glancing Ed Green header, Jacob Brunner picked up the loose ball, turned one and charged past another directly into the box and glanced the ball into the bottom of the net.
And despite going down to 10 men they edged in front with 20 minutes left when Josh Pugh picked up the ball up wide on the right, played a forward pass and followed it. He received the ball back to his feet and beat a player, before playing another one-two. 20 yards out the ball sat up for him perfectly and he placed his volley right in the bottom corner leaving the keeper helpless.
Hendon finally started to apply some pressure in the final 15 minutes but were unable to find an equaliser.
Baums boss Nick Shinder told JC Sport: "Hendon are top of the league for a reason but our dominant display shows why we need to be taken seriously.
"Faced with a mountain of contentious decisions, leaving us a man down, we worked hard and held it together to win.
"This was not a surprise victory but a result waiting to happen. Now our focus shifts to Temple Fortune and another strong performance."
Hendon manager Adam Glekin told JC Sport: "I'm not sure if last week's result contributed to it, but we just weren't at the races at all today.
"We looked like a team struggling at the bottom of the league rather than the leaders.
"Credit to Bilbaum, they were the better team and we can have no complaints about the result - we were second best all over the pitch.
"Next week it will be vital for us to get our mojo back and not let this minor blip turn into a full blown slump."
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