Upon first impressions Imperial Fields is a neat and tidy ground, and surprisingly grand for a team struggling in the Ryman Premier League. The club moved from their historic Sandy Lane ground in 2002, a move that still divides many of the home faithful who believe the atmosphere has been adversely effected since.

Scrolling through the programme before the game provided a reminder of why the non-league game is so enjoyable; amongst the listed Hendon players were the familiar names of Frank Sinclair, Isiah Rankin and Scott Cousins.

The Hendon game would be the first in charge for caretaker manager Danny Lee, after previous manager Mark Beard had been sacked following the 4-2 defeat to Bury Town the week before. Speaking to the manager of the club shop before the game began, he indicated that it hadn’t been a happy campaign so far. Tooting had been expected to be embedded comfortably inside the top half. Instead, they found themselves in very real relegation danger having taken only 16 points from 18 games.

This, alongside the biting cold, may have explained some degree of supporter apathy, as when the two teams took to the field in front of the sizeable and sparsely-populated main stand, I found myself largely alone in awkwardly applauding their arrival. This set the pattern for the first half; Rob and I trying to drum some enthusiasm into the crowd around us as much as communicating our support to the players on the pitch. Behind the goal away to our left we picked out the core of the ‘hardcore’ Tooting & Mitcham fans, occasionally launching into a muffled chant of ‘come on you stripes’. We both agreed that the nickname needed some work.

As the game got underway, it wasn’t difficult to see why the home fans were struggling to get behind their side. The game was scrappy, punctuated by aimless long balls being punted from one end to the other.

When the match did finally begin to settle into a rhythm it soon became apparent that Hendon were the superior side, passing the ball around neatly, moving into space and running directly at the Tooting defenders.

Tooting themselves were disorganised; playing without width, unable to keep possession for any meaningful amount of time, and squandering attacking opportunities with alarming frequency. They mustered one shot that was easily blocked in the entire opening half.

They also went into the interval a goal down, conceding easily from a corner when Grenada international Elliot Charles nodded in from close range.

In need of escaping the freezing cold, we darted into the spacious bar buried underneath the main stand to peer at the latest Premiership scorelines, which felt strangely irrelevant given the setting and atmosphere of the first half.

Deciding to brave the cold of the second half fueled by an excellent burger and second cup of coffee, we chose to move to behind the goal to the right of the main stand where, in time-honoured non-league fashion, the Tooting & Mitcham ultras had swapped with their Hendon equivalents at the break.

Whether it was the new location or the half-time pint, the second half was far more engaging. Tooting attacked with new-found energy and the crowd seemed slightly more lively and interested.

Alas, it was not to last. In a smooth counter-attack Hendon doubled their lead and went on to add a third shortly afterwards.

‘Show some pride, Tooting!’ yelled one of the men to our right. It was arguably a fair criticism, but as it had followed ‘Take your bollocks off your head, linesman!’ when the assistant had given a throw in against Tooting shortly before, it somehow felt a little lacking in authority.

But the game did rekindle a love of the non-league that I hadn’t engaged with in far too long. Being within touching distance of the players, being able to hear every shout from the fans and the players, to chat informally with the fans in and out of the ground, and to feel so firmly embedded in the community in which you find yourself is a precious feeling.

Back on the number 280 towards Broadway and once again scrutinising the programme, I found myself disappointed that we would miss the local clash with Carshalton Athletic on Boxing Day, but announced to Rob that we could easily make the home game against top of the table Billericay Town in January. As a Sunderland fan it had been easy to identify with Tooting & Mitcham’s situation. The affiliation began on this day.