Hendon relinquished their grip on the London Senior Cup in most disappointing fashion at the Goldsdown Ground, Brimsdown, on Thursday night. It wasn't just the defeat to the Molten Spartan South Midlands League club - Hendon's third cup exit at the hands of a club from a lower level this season - but it was the performance that was so disappointing.

There were a number of changes to the team which had snatched victory over Canvey Island two days earlier, indeed only Dave Diedhiou and James Burgess wore the same shirt-number, but the team was by no means a reserve one.

And to make things even easier for Hendon, Brimsdown lost their captain and centre-half David Allen, to a red card after 31 minutes. Danny Dyer had been lucky not to receive a yellow card for a poor challenge after 10 minutes, but Tashen Lewis and Allen found the referee in less forgiving mood in the following quarter of an hour.

The first attempt on goal came from Brimsdown after 17 minutes. Dale Archer, who had been an unused substitute for Hendon in 2006-07, fired in a free-kick which brought an excellent save from James Reading.

When a free-kick was curled into the Hendon penalty area after half an hour, the referee blew his whistle and walked towards the penalty spot. He was penalising Hendon, but had seen a rabbit punch on Craig Vargas by Allen as the pair were tussling. With Allen already on a yellow card, the referee decided only to show a second yellow rather than a straight red, but the latter card soon followed and Allen trudged off.

It was his second red card against Hendon. Allen had been dismissed whilst playing for the other club to call the Goldsdown home - Enfield Town - though this was at Claremont Road in the semi-final of the 2001-02 Middlesex Senior Cup and it was a for a punch on Dale Binns.

Against ten men, Hendon rarely threatened in the remainder of the first half, although Lubo Guentchev did put the ball in the net after after 38 minutes, only for it to be ruled out because of an offside flag.

As the weather deteriorated so did Hendon's finishing, although they dominated the second half throughout. The most damning indictment of Hendon's punchlessness was best summed up by the fact that James Burgess looked to be the Greens' most likely source for a goal, and his two career goals in nearly 300 appearances have come from an aggregate range of less than two yards.

Dyer, Diedhiou and substitute Casey Maclaren all had chances to score, albeit on the angle outside the right post. But all three players, not only went for power, but also aimed for the near post and all three found the side-netting. Peter Dean and Guentchev, in front of goal, also went for power over placement and sent balls high into rain-filled night sky and over the crossbar.

Kevin Maclaren at least worked former Wingate & Finchley and Dagenham & Redbridge goalkeeper Ed Thompson, who made an excellent save after 80 minutes.

The goalkeeper did even better, two minutes later, to deny Burgess whose carefully placed header was palmed away with the aid of the crossbar. Brimsdown had weathered the meteorological storm as well as the metaphorical Hendon one and were delighted to reach 90 minutes all square.

The only goal of the game came in the 99th minute. The Hendon defence backed off the approaching Jermain Hughes and allowed the substitute time to set himself for a 20-yard shot. Reading was a little back on his heels as Hughes fired in a powerful, swerving, dipping effort. The goalkeeper got a hand to the ball but couldn't keep it out.

Hendon's desperation grew, but the arrival of both Jamie Busby and Scott Cousins couldn't turn things around. Thompson did make a couple more saves, notably again denying Burgess, but 10 men deservedly held on for a famous victory.

Manager Gary McCann was a very disappointed man, saying "After Tuesday night and the great result and performance, you would expect the train to keep rolling. But the first half was as bad as anything I can remember and told the players in no uncertain terms at half-time.

"We had enough chances in the second half to win five games but we didn't take them. We weren't smart and took the wrong options almost every time.

"I was embarrassed not only with the result, but also with the performance. It wasn't good enough."