Hendon went out of the Emirates FA Cup at SkyEx Stadium on Saturday afternoon. That is the harsh fact for the Greens, but their 5-4 defeat against Hayes & Yeading United came at the end of one of the most amazing, heart-stopping and eventually heart-breaking football matches imaginable.

Luck is capricious and based on rebounds off the goalframe, Hendon were unlucky, twice; based on refereeing decisions two conceded penalties were offset by an extraordinarily lenient decision which kept the game 11 against 11.

Changes from the team which had beaten Walton Casuals were enforced as Lee Chappell was suspended, so Tom Hamblin came in for him. As well as positional amendments, Sergio Manesio replaced Dan Williams. New goalkeeper Lewis Todd was an unused substitute, as were Romario Jonas, Howard Hall and Arash Abdollahi.

For 30 minutes, there was little to separate the sides. Both teams' three most attacking players looked better than the defenders in front of them, but clear cut openings were at a premium.

After seven minutes, a Charlie Smith corner was poked goalwards through a crowd of players, but it could not be directed and went straight towards Jack Smith, who fell gratefully on the ball. Hassan Jalloh, who has just returned to Hayes & Yeading, was pulling the strings for them, aided by willing runners in ex-Green Ogo Obi and former Southampton forward Omar Rowe.

In the 23rd minute another Charlie Smith corner caused consternation in home penalty area. Two green-shirted players came close to getting a decisive touch as the ball bounced through the six-yard box, before it was hacked away for another corner, this time from the opposite flank.

This corner was won by a Hendon player, and it required a good save from Jack Smith - aided by a team-mate who hacked the ball clear under pressure. Eight minutes, later the game changed, and in the wrong way for the Greens.

Obi made a run into the penalty area and Hamblin attempted to tackle him from the side. He may or not have made contact with the ball, but he certainly did so with Obi, who went down.

The referee awarded the penalty, and there was a minor grumble from Hamblin, but whether it was ball first or man only, it was a careless challenge. OBI despatched the spot-kick with a drive down the middle that crashed off the underside of the crossbar and bounced over the goal-line rippling the net.

For the rest of the first half, it was one-way traffic as Hendon fell apart. Every Hayes & Yeading attack carried a serious threat and Kraig Noel-McLeod and Hamblin were under constant pressure down the middle from Jalloh and Obi, while the width from Rowe and Joe Grant, kept Harvie Gardiner and Charlie Smith more than fully occupied.

Just as it looked as if Hendon might escape into half-time with a one-goal deficit, they let in two more. In the 43rd minute, all four attacking players were involved in the first of these goals, Obi and Jalloh linking, before Rowe shot goalwards.

Chris Grace made a good save, then blocked the rebound but, with the Hendon defence spectating, no one was on hand to deny GRANT a tap-in to make it 2–0. A week earlier, Poole had scored their first goal from a goal area ricochet and a no Hendon player reacted, so it was clearly not a lesson learned.

Two minutes later, Jalloh was allowed to stride forward and he curled a right foot shot that beat Grace. The ball smacked into the right post, rebounded, struck Grace on the shoulder and trickled into the net. Even if the shot deserved a goal, Grace did not deserve the own goal that was the outcome.

Before the second half started, Sam Corcoran and Connor Calcutt replaced Manesio and Hamblin, with Luke Tingey dropping back into the central defensive position vacated by captain Hamblin - Corcoran taking the armband.

Seven minutes into the half, Jack Smith came for a ball and collided with Calcutt. It was an honest contest and although Calcutt was penalised, it was probably because the goalkeeper required treatment. There would be consequences, however, a few minutes later.

In the 62nd minute, Hendon won a corner on their right side. It was sent in by Charlie Smith and Jack Smith came for the ball through a crowd of players.

His punch was weak and the ball dropped to Kam English, lurking unmarked just beyond the far post. With a swing of his left boot, ENGLISH volleyed the ball just inside the left post. Out of nothing, Hendon were back in the game - but not for long, or so it seemed.

Three minutes later, a careless challenge just outside the penalty area, in the centre of the pitch, was in ideal range for Obi, who scored with a couple of stunning free-kicks for the Greens at the end of last season. He, however, was over-ruled by the ex-Saint ROWE, who curled the ball beyond the defensive wall and Grace’s dive. The goalkeeper’s reaction suggested he should have done better.

As Hendon restarted, Obi shouted at the referee and pointed behind him. The ball had been played backwards by Luca Valentine to Corcoran, who looked up and saw an unguarded net 60 yards downfield.

CORCORAN struck the ball well and suddenly everyone else realised that Jack Smith had left his goal and gone to the dugout for treatment or some description. The ball bounced twice and entered the goal.

Questions were asked about the goal’s validity but referees don’t routine check to see that goalkeepers are in position. More importantly, Smith should not have left his penalty area without letting either a team-mate or one of the match officials know.

Less than a minute later, Corcoran, who had been cautioned five minutes after coming on, dived into a challenge. A card was inevitable, either the second yellow or a red - both of which would have ended the midfielder’s involvement. To everyone’s surprise the referee limited himself to a stern "last warning" lecture.

In the 73rd minute, Obi latched onto a through ball and took it past Grace, who forced him a little wide. Obi took a touch to regain full control but, before he could roll the ball into the unguarded net, Gardiner nicked the ball off his foot and away for a corner, which came to nothing.

Moments later, a ball from the left-back position floated into space between the two Hayes & Yeading central defenders with Francis Amartey chasing through at full tilt. He got to the ball first, ran towards the penalty area and, as Jack Smith came off his line, AMARTEY scored comfortably.

For the next five minutes, Hendon were in control and the home team was panicking. A couple of half chances came and went before, in the 81st minute, the comeback was completed.

The ball was played forward and English, Valentine and Calcutt tried to create an opening. A defender sent the ball to the right side of the penalty area, from where it was returned with arrowing accuracy by AMARTEY. Five goals in 19 minutes had turned the game around, but the drama was far from over.

Hendon made their final change a couple of minutes after the equaliser, with the limping English being replaced by Dan Williams.

With four minutes to go, Calcutt slipped the ball through the heart of the Hayes & Yeading defence and Valentine, broke clear of Liam McDevitt. He ran towards goal and tried to beat Jack Smith. The goalkeeper got his body to the shot and the ball looped against the crossbar.

This time there was no one to be struck by the rebound, and Valentine’s run took him to the far side of the goal. Thus, when the ball bounced in the six-yard box, former Barnet defender Ismail Yakubu was able to complete the clearance under no pressure.

When the ball went down to the other end, Hayes & Yeading substitute Toby Little - on for Rowe - fed a short pass to Jalloh, who had Gardiner in front of him and Tom Nyama tracking back. Jalloh tried to go between the pair, went down and the referee again pointed to the penalty spot.

This time it was JALLOH who took responsibility for the spot-kick and low, powerful shot to Grace’s right was powerful and accurate enough to beat the goalkeeper's dive.

There were three minutes of normal time and a rather skinny four additional ones - there had been six goals, a caution, a couple of injuries and three substitutions, plus a little time-wasting by the hosts - for Hayes & Yeading to hold out. Try as they might, Hendon could not fashion one final opening to come back again and Hayes & Yeading saw out time.