Hendon advanced to the 3rd qualifying round of the AXA-sponsored FA Cup with a late winner against Foresters Essex Senior League Southend Manor at Southchurch Park Arena on Saturday afternoon.

As banana skins go, this was as slippery a one Hendon could have wished for, but for the neutral this was a brilliant cup-tie. The quality of the last two goals was far ahead of the technical quality of the fare exhibited by the two teams. Every manager will admit that the quality of performance is less important in a cup-tie than obtaining a result and this was certainly the case for Hendon at Southend.

Davis Haule's withdrawal on the eve of the match was a huge blow to Hendon as he had given the midfield a level of stability and class absent for much of the young season. Ross Pickett came into side, but he looked tentative and uncomfortable playing so far behind the front two of Phil Ruggles and Eugene Ofori.

For the game to be comfortable for Hendon, they needed an early goal, but it never looked like coming. Instead it was Southend Manor, whose first two defeats of the season, had come in the previous 7 days, who began the brighter. In the 17th minute, a snap shot from Jon Doyle crashed off the stanchion or outside of the post, but referee Mr S Brock awarded a corner, much to the surprise of David Hook, who had scrambled across to cover the danger.

Four minutes later, Dale Binns attacked down the left wing, cut inside Keith Smith and laid the ball into Pickett's path. As Ryan Karrer came off his line, Pickett knocked the ball past him, but before Binns could apply a finishing touch, Dave Manda knocked the ball clear.

In the 23rd minute, Hendon a fortunate escape. The ever-dangerous Ben Barnett worked himself a small opening and drilled a powerful shot past Hook. He was doubly unlucky because the ball cannoned off the foot of the post, struck the back of Hook and seemed destined to drop into the net, until René Street headed the ball over his own bar.

Six minutes later, Hendon equalised the score in terms of striking the post as Binns rifled a shot past Karrer, but the rebound was unkind for Hendon and the ball was hurriedly cleared by Terry Baker. Jon Barrie-Bates was twice well placed to strike shots at goal as Manor struggled to make complete clearances, but he belied his experience with ill-judged and poorly weighted passes.

Hendon's tactic of knocking long, hopeful balls towards Ruggles and Ofori foundered on the giant rocks of 6ft 3in Manda and 6ft 6in Simon Nicks. Playing the ball on the ground was the obvious way past these two and it should have worked in the 34th minute.

Paul Yates' astute pass invited Ofori to show off his pace, and he sprinted past a suprised Nicks. The young striker took the ball around Karrer too and had the whole goal to aim at as Nicks tried to cover the goalline. Instead of a simple side-foot to open the scoring, Ofori went for power and he lifted the ball over the crossbar.

n excellent decision by Mr Brock led directly to Hendon's opening goal in the 40th minute. He spotted a little trip on Binns just outside the penatly area which, although he didn't go down, did impede him. Southend Manor built a 3-man wall in the expectation of a shot from either Micky Woolner or Simon Clarke. Instead Woolner curled in a cross which Paul TOWLER confidently headed into the net.

The second half started quietly, but Hendon had a number of chances to extend their lead and make the tie safe. In the 54th minute, Ruggles beat the consistently ineffective Southend Manor offside tactic and had a clear run at goal. As Karrer came off his line, he tried a lob but the ball bobbled slightly as he struck it and Karrer was cackling with glee as he gathered the ball before it bound wide of the far post.

Karrer then made a magnificent save to tip a fierce Binns drive against the bar, then he made a fine catch of a deflected driven cross from Binns which almost sneaked inside the 'keeper's near post. In the 78th minute, Pickett caught Karrer on the knee as the pair dived in to meet a another low Binns cross. After the ball had bounced around the Southend Manor penalty area for a few seconds, Mr Brock awarded them a free-kick, then told a complaining Karrer that Pickett had made a legal challenge for the ball.

It was not all one-way traffic. Nicks was the focus of a succession of long throws, free-kicks and corners but the Hendon rearguard coped albeit a little uncomfortably. In the 81st minute, Southend drew level. Another needlessly conceded free-kick was not properly cleared and Sean "Geordie" WRIGHT launched a 25-yard howitzer that flew into the roof of the net.

Controversy exploded in the 86th minute. Ofori again showed his fine acceleration and got around the back of Manor's defence and his low ball was hacked away for a corner. However, after playing the ball past Karrer, the goalkeeper caught him with an outstretched boot. If a defender had made such a challenge, it would probably have brought a straight red card from a referee, but Mr Brock, who had had an excellent hour before enduring an inconsistent end, did nothing.

In the 93rd minute, Hendon's defence, living on its nerves, failed to deal with another long throw launched into their penalty area. The ball bounced around and Keith Smith lashed a shot towards the goal. Hook pulled off a magnificent save to deny the full back a famous winning goal.

Instead, 90 seconds later, it was the Hendon fans who were celebrating. Hendon defended yet another corner, but this time made a good job of clearing the ball and Marvyn Watson, on for Ruggles, was alone as he sprinted into space through the right side of midfield. He was all alone as he received the pass and, looking up, saw Karrer racing off his line.

WATSON lifted the ball over him with a perfectly weighted lob-shot. It was almost like a slow-motion sequence as the ball crossed the line 6 inches under the crossbar and a similar distance inside the post with Hendon fans almost sucking the ball into the net. A few seconds later, as his teammates caught up with him, Watson was mobbed.

Mr Brock did not end Hendon's discomfort quickly. He played 9 minutes and 14 seconds of stoppage time in the second half before blowing the final whistle. Hendon boss Dave Anderson was not happy with the performance saying, "We did not play well today. Our goalkeeper kept us in the match with his saves."