Hendon's expected exit from the FA Cup at the second qualifying round stage duly arrived, 2-0 at the hands of Conference South Lewes, but there was much to take heart from. For pretty much all of the 90 minutes at Claremont Road on Saturday, there was little, if anything, to choose between the two teams separated by more than 30 places on the Non-League football ladder.

The Greens made three changes to the team which had collapsed late on against Ramsgate, Sam Page, James Burgess and Ross Pickett making way for Ryan Wharton, Dean Green and Jermaine Hunter. Jamie Busby dropped back into a midfield role while Green, Hunter and Danny Edwards played up front.

For more than 30 minutes, a neutral would have thought it was Hendon who were the team from the higher level because they completely dominated the proceedings, with only the regular failing of being unable to score ensuring there was parity.

Rakatahr Hudson did put one effort on target, after 18 minutes, but it lacked the power to disturb Paul Wilkerson. Three minutes later, Green tried a shot that had the power, but not the direction as it flew just over the crossbar.

But the two best efforts of the half for Hendon both came from Lee O'Leary. His first effort went over of the target, and his second - in the 32nd minute - went wide, but the latter came after a fine move involving Edwards and Green. The ball fizzed inches wide of Wilkerson's right post, but if it had been a foot the other side post, the big goalkeeper wouldn't have reached it.

Almost immediately, Lewes were forced to make a change, Junior Kadi coming on for the injured Simon Wormull. It resulted in a brief spell of pressure, which saw Richard Wilmot save well from the Rooks' Paul Booth and Karl Beckford shot wide.

It would be wrong to say Lewes dominated the second half, but they had distinctly more possession and looked more threatening, without ever creating the number of chances that most of Hendon's opponents have done this season.

Hendon still had the problem of their approach play being far better than anything going on in the penalty area and, apart from one header from Green, on target efforts were non-existent.

The game, however, remained open and well-contested, with barely a foul worth the name. A cynical shirt pull by Rooks skipper Steve Robinson that saw him cautioned by the referee and a few close offside calls were the nearest the game ever came to controversy.

It seemed almost as if Lewes were content to play for a draw and the replay at The Dripping Pan when, out of practically nothing, in the 71st minute, they made the breakthrough. Little seemed on as the ball reached the feet of Beckford just outside the penalty area.

However, the striker suddenly created some space for himself and let fly with a low shot. If it hadn't been for the 20-minute downpour immediately before and during half-time, Wilmot would have had little difficulty with Beckford's shot. However, the ball skipped off the slick surface and squirmed off of the goalkeeper's hands before nestling in the bottom corner.

From the kick-off, Wayne O'Sullivan fired at goal, but Wilkerson was alert and held the powerful drive without problem. In response to going behind, Hendon introduced Takumi Ake, Ian Hilaire and Pickett, for Edwards, O'Sullivan and Green, respectively, but they couldn't make a difference.

Then, in the fourth minute of stoppage time, a good run from Gary Holloway opened up the defence and his diagonal pass was met by Andy Drury, who took the ball around Wilmot and slipped it into the unguarded net. It was as undeserved as it was cruel on Hendon.

Seconds after the restart the final whistle blew, almost certainly for the final time in an FA Cup tie at Claremont Road.

"I was so proud of the response of the players, who were so despondent after losing on Monday night", said manager Gary McCann. "A two-goal margin in no way reflected how close the game was and, in the first half, I thought we were completely on top.

"The performance from every player, from back to front, was complete. Every one of them did their jobs just as we had asked of them."