Hendon manager Gary McCann offered to resign immediately following the team's 2-1 exit from the FA Trophy at the hands of Ramsgate on Saturday afternoon. After consultation with club officials, Mr McCann agreed to take two weeks' leave of absence to reconsider his position.

Mr McCann's frustration was easy to understand because the Hendon performance had been as good as most of the recent ones and the game has been lost in an identical fashion. The script has been so similar: good approach play followed by poor final balls; a punchless strikeforce fails to find the target; individual lapses in concentration or errors gift chances for the opposition and there is always one more goal conceded than scored.

"If it was the same player making the mental mistakes every week," McCann lamented, "I could say to him, 'I'm sorry, you're not good quite enough; try a lower level.' But it isn't, it's different players every game. And after every game I'm going into the dressing room desperately trying to lift the players' spirits.

In addition, Hendon are particularly vulnerable in the first and last ten minutes of each half, during which time almost 80 per cent of the goals conceded have come.

Saturday was a case in point, with Ramsgate scoring after 42 and 87 minutes, both as a result of errors, one a poor pass that led to a break, the second a moment's loss of concentration which allowed a player to run through for an uncontested close-range header.

The Greens had certainly not been inferior to the Rams, who sit 19 places higher up the Ryman League Premier Division table. Where there was a difference was inside the penalty area, because Hendon missed a number of good chances while Ramsgate accepted theirs.

In the first half, Dean Green, Lee O'Leary and Wayne O'Sullivan forced saves out Jurgen Wild, Green's chance coming after a particularly good piece of control brought him an opening. Rakatahr Hudson, James Burgess, Ross Pickett and Danny Rouco also had openings, but they failed to hit the target with their efforts.

For Ramsgate, their best chance fell to Michael Yianni, but a sprawling Richard Wilmot was able to save his shot. Then, in the 42nd minute, against the run of play, the Rams took the lead.

An errant pass from O'Sullivan to O'Leary was intercepted by Mark Munday, whose first time pass went to Lee Minshull. Minshull quickly released Shaun Welford, who had just a single defender to beat. After turning one way, Welford spun and struck a low right-foot shot into the bottom corner, giving Wilmot no chance.

The first half had been quite open and competitive, Hendon having the advantage of the wind. The second period, was less interesting, with Hendon still having the lion's share of possession, but rarely looking like doing much with it. Ramsgate were content to sit back and wait for a mistake before pouncing.

But they nearly paid the penalty for these tactics in the 63rd minute. A long diagonal ball from halfway picked out O'Sullivan, who was played onside by Dean Hill, who was slow to move upfield. The former Arsenal junior had a couple of yards on the nearest defender and had only Wild to beat. Instead of going for a low shot inside the post, O'Sullivan tried a lob, overhit it and watched in horror as the ball cleared the crossbar by about a foot.

In the 86th minute, Ramsgate attacked down their left flank. A good deep cross should have been dealt with by O'Sullivan at the far post, but he hadn't tracked the run of substitute Andy Hadden, who had the simplest of tasks to stoop and head the ball into the net from six yards out.

Almost immediately, Hendon reduced the arrears. A scramble in the Ramsgate penalty area resulted in loud penalty claims for handball as Liam Morris's outstretched arm was struck by the ball. Referee Matthew Downey had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot and waved aside the vociferous complaints from the visiting defenders.

Green made no mistake with the spot-kick sending Wild the wrong way. Even if the keeper had guessed correctly, he would probably not have been able to reach the ball, so well was it struck and placed.

Four minutes of injury time remained, but Hendon never looked like getting a second chance and Ramsgate held on without much trouble.