Wingate & Finchley suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of local rivals Hendon on Tuesday, losing 1-0 to a 48th minute free kick from Shaun Lucien.
Ahmet Rifat made 9 changes from the side that won against Concord Rangers on Saturday, giving Luke Deslandes his full debut, also giving a start to academy starlet Tommy Roberts and backup keeper Fergal Hale-Brown. It was the latter that the Blues had to thank for staying in the contest at times, with Hale-Brown making a number of excellent saves. He was powerless to stop the goal however, as Lucien swung the ball over the wall and into the top corner from 25 yards.
Rifat made changes at half time and throughout the second half which was much more end to end and the Blues did create chances of their own. Ultimately it wasn't enough to get on the scoresheet and Hendon will progress to the next round to face Sporting Bengal United.
To round out 2023 the Blues face back-to-back away league fixtures against Potters Bar and Kingstonian, returning to the Maurice Rebak Stadium on New Year’s Day against Cheshunt.
Wingate & Finchley: Hale-Brown; Webb (Carvalho 72’); Hernandez; Nazor (Frimpong 59'); Solomon; Achuba; Dawodu (Garrett-Douglas 46'); Yeboah; Newton (Chukwu 70'); Deslandes; Roberts (Ifil 46')