Hendon went out of the Westview Rail (Isthmian League) Cup against Staines Town at Claremont Road on Monday night, but they were, once again, undeserving losers even if they were authors of their own misfortune.

Sam Page returned at the heart of the defence as did Ian Hilaire and Takumi Ake in attack as a third consecutive match with enforced absences affected continuity. The players to miss out were Dean Green, Danny Edwards and Jermaine Hunter none of whom were in the 16. In a further reshuffle, Jamie Busby dropped into defence and Wayne O'Sullivan took on a more attacking role.

The new formation worked very well in the opening exchanges and Staines were kept on the back foot for the first ten minutes. There were no clear-cut chances, but it was a second consecutive very positive start from the Greens.

This time it paid off. Busby made a foray down the right flank, cut inside a defender and laid an inch-perfect pass into the path of Rakatahr Hudson, who made no mistake knocking the ball past Shaun Allaway.

Staines' only response was to send Mark Nwokeji on a few runs down the flanks. His blistering pace certainly caused a few problems, but Nwokeji could do nothing with the ball if the covering defence had not dealt with the danger.

Only once did the Hendon defence look vulnerable, but then before Michael Currie could unleash a shot, he slipped on the greasy top surface and Craig Vargas was able to clear the danger before Currie could regain his feet.

Hendon continued to create half-chances, but the final ball into the penalty area was never quite good enough. Snapshots from both Ake and the ever-improving Lee O'Leary flew away from the target as they tried their luck from outside the box.

In the dressing room at half-time, Hendon's coaching staff stressed the importance of making a good start and keeping concentration, especially in the opening minutes. Quite what they were saying to each other, three minutes into the period, after Hendon had conceded an equaliser is anyone's guess, but if the air had turned blue it would have been understandable.

Quite simply, Paul Armstrong allowed his marker to get too close to him and when Armstrong turned and shot, the defender was hopelessly out of position. Unfortunately for Richard Wilmot and the Greens, the ball was perfectly struck and placed, ending up just inside the far post.

And, four minutes later, Staines had what turned out to be their winning goal. Howard Newton joined the attack and got the ball just on the edge of the Hendon box. He went into the area, turned and was brought down by Ryan Wharton.

Former Hendon player Dave Sargent, who has been first-choice penalty-taker everywhere he has been - except at Hendon, where Mark Nicholls claimed seniority - was given the responsibility, and made no mistake with a drive into the bottom left corner.

Hendon could have folded in the face of this quickfire double, but they didn't, which is to their credit. Getting back into the game was another matter, however.

After 57 minutes, O'Leary had a header that beat Allaway and would have probably bounced into the goal. Kevin Warner was one of two defenders on or near the line and he hacked the ball clear.

In the 72nd minute, excellent interplay between O'Leary, Ake and Hudson set up a half-chance for Hilaire, but he side-footed the ball a foot wide of the post.

Ross Pickett and Adilson Lopes were introduced at the expense of Hilaire and Ake, but they could not change.

"Five mad minutes cost us," said manager Gary McCann. "We were completely on top, but defensive naivety cost us dearly."