Hendon suffered another disappointing afternoon at Canvey Island on Saturday, this time conceding three second-half goals on their way to a 3-1 defeat. The most unsatisfactory element was that it came out of the blue, because the Greens had been on top in the first half and deservedly held the lead.

There was just one change to the starting 11 which had enjoyed League success over Lowestoft a week earlier, with Elliott Charles playing in the lone striker's role while Greg Ngoyi was joined on an attack-minded bench by Jerome Federico, Isaiah Rankin and Belal Aite-Ouakrim, plus fit-again James Archer.

On a mild and dry afternoon, the only problem for the players was the wind - a constant source of difficulty for the Greens on trips to this part of the Island. That said, although it was much less forceful than on many previous trips, it remained capricious.

Both teams spent the first 10 or so minutes feeling each other out before Hendon took control. Carl McCluskey and Darren Currie regularly got the better of Michael Alaile and Ashley Dumas, but Charles was well marshalled by Steve Sheehan and John Easterford.

After a header from Charles floated harmlessly wide, he forced a save from James Russell after 16 minutes. The ball appeared to be going just over the crossbar, but the goalkeeper made absolutely certain with his tip-over.

Elliott Godfrey then drilled a shot just wide of the target and Charles again went close before Hendon should have taken the lead after 26 minutes. A superb diagonal ball by McCluskey picked out Darren Currie, arriving late just beyond the far post.

Possibly surprised that the ball even reached him, Currie's touch was distinctly unsure and Russell was able to gather the slow bobbling ball close to the post and launch a rapid counter-attack. It nearly resulted in Canvey opening the scoring, but Berkley Laurencin was equal to Jason Hallett's attempt.

In the 35th minute, Hendon's excellent start got its reward. A cross from Scott Cousins landed at the feet of Currie, who might have had a first-time shot before being closed down by Sheehan. He feinted one way, turned the other and instead of then shooting fed McCluskey.

McCluskey, too, might have taken a first-time shot, but he dummied a defender, made a little more space for himself and fired a precise shot just inside the post. Russell may have been slightly unsighted, but the precision and power of the shot would probably have beaten him anyway.

Hendon created a couple of other half-chances before the half-time whistle blew, but they didn't cause Russell undue problems. Canvey, meanwhile, were becoming frustrated at their lack of possession.

The second half was a completely different story and it was Canvey who took control early on. They did suffer an early blow when Rob King picked up an injury in a challenge with Currie. Both players were going for the ball, remained on their feet and it was the Hendon man's extra strength that won possession.

In the 51st minute, from a left-wing corner, Hendon failed to deal with the danger. The ball bounced around the six-yard box and the Greens were fortunate that the attempt on goal was drilled straight at Laurencin, who made the necessary save.

This should have set alarm bells ringing, but the lesson was clearly not learned. Four minutes later, from another set piece, the ball again went across the danger area and this time King applied the finishing touch.

He did not celebrate much, simply limping towards the dugout, from where former Hendon loanee Bradley Woods-Garness emerged to replace King. Seven minutes later, James Parker, who had been injured in a tackle, limped off and, in a straight positional swap, Archer replaced him.

In the 64th minute, McCluskey forced Russell into a save. If Hendon fans thought this was a sign that things were changing for the better for the Greens, they were sadly mistaken because, just four minutes later, they went behind.

There was a touch a good fortune about the goal as Hallett's original shot might have been going narrowly wide when blocked by the outstretched leg of Ryan Wharton. The ball fell to Woods-Garness, who spotted that Laurencin had committed himself to going for the original shot, as he had to, and the substitute swept the ball into the unguarded goal.

Both teams made another change, Federico replacing Jamie Busby for Hendon, and Alex Rhodes making way for Dean Mason for Canvey, before the next big moment in the match. From a through ball, Hallett sprinted past James Fisher and went down in a challenge from Laurencin. The referee ruled the challenge was just inside the penalty area, and cautioned Laurencin.

From the spot-kick, taken by Dumas, Laurencin made an excellent double save, firstly down to his left to keep out the penalty, then across to his right to block the follow-up. It should also be said there had been further fortune for the Greens, because Canvey's regular penalty-taker - and a very successful one too - is King.

Both teams then replaced their centre forwards, Denny Heale replacing Hallett and Rankin taking over from Charles. Could the former Arsenal and Bradford City man continue his amazing run of late goals to bring Hendon a point?

The answer was emphatically in the negative as Rankin barely got a look of the ball. There was one half chance, from a corner, but Casey Maclaren couldn't direct his header close to the target.

In the third minute of four of added time, Canvey completed their comeback with a third goal. The ball bounced to Woods-Garness, 10 yards outside the penalty area, and his first-time strike swerved three or four yards, then dipped, to crash into the net just inside the angle of post and crossbar. It was a magnificent strike, one that added a very firm exclamation point to a dominant second half performance from the home team.

Hendon manager Gary McCann was a very unhappy man after the match. He said, "Arrogance, complacency and laziness in the second half was our downfall. I am very disappointed at the manner of the defeat.

"I thought we had dominated the first half and were in complete control. At half-time, I praised the players and they responded like that in the second. We had no width and there was too much space between the front man and the defence.

"The last time, I was that pleased with the first-half performance was at Harrow - and we were even worse in the second half then. I am going to have to look at how I speak to the players at half-time."