Hendon manager Gary McCann said of this 4-2 Ryman League Premier Division defeat at the hands of Ramsgate at Claremont Road on Monday night, "I don't think I have ever felt so low at the end of a match."

He was not alone in that sentiment as Hendon fans watched a 2-1 lead after 85 minutes become a 4-2 deficit barely five minutes later. That being said, if Ramsgate had taken even 10 per cent of their excellent chances, the game would long have been beyond Hendon's reach.

Sam Page, on loan from MK Dons - and watched by his club's player-coach Junior Lewis - made his debut in place of the injured James Parker, while the unfit Dean Green was replaced by Danny Edwards and Jamie Busby took over from the dropped Jermaine Hunter.

In the first half, it would be fair to say Hendon's defending bordered on the suicidal. So many times, balls between midfield and defence went nowhere near their intended target, only to be picked up by eager Ramsgate forwards who, on the whole, then proceeded to waste the opportunities they were presented with.

After five minutes, Ollie Schulz put a shot just wide having been given three yards to turn near the penalty spot. Two minutes later, a cross was headed over the bar with the marking non-existent.

The inevitable opening goal came in the tenth minute. Shaun Welford got behind Page and ensured the defender initiated contact. Welford squealed as he threw himself to the ground, and the referee awarded a spot-kick.

Although Richard Wilmot guessed the ball would go to his left from Welford, the big goalkeeper could only watch as it bounced off him and into the net.

Six minutes later, Wayne O'Sullivan was caught out, but he recovered quickly and got his foot to the ball to clear the danger half a step before making contact with James Gregory. Gregory, went down, and the referee awarded a free-kick just outside the penalty area. O'Sullivan was cautioned for the challenge.

Almost immediately, Nick Davis saw an effort cleared from the line by James Burgess and this was followed, in the next few minutes, by Warren Schulz failing to hit the target, Michael Yianni glancing a free header of the angle of post and crossbar and Davis somehow managing to hook the ball over the bar from two yards out.

Maybe it was obvious that it wasn't going to be Hendon's night when Ross Pickett and Ollie Schulz made almost identical contact in the Ramsgate penalty area. Unlike Welford, Pickett fell to the turf, but unlike at the other end when Welford was fouled, no penalty was awarded.

Hendon continued to probe away and Chris May produced a brilliant save to deny Lee O'Leary after 36 minutes. Three minutes later, the goalkeeper made a more routine effort to keep out a drive from Craig Vargas.

The second half started with Takumi Ake and Hunter replacing Burgess and Pickett, but chances continued to rain in on the Hendon goal, albeit this time the Ramsgate accuracy was noticeably absent. There was one very notable exception, a 56th minute drive that bounced out for a goal-kick after thudding against the outside of a post with Wilmot struggling to get close.

But Hendon were distinctly more competitive and Ake caused the visitors a few problems. He had already fired just wide and narrowly over the bar before, in the 62nd minute, he tried his luck again.

This time the ball bounced off a defender's leg into the middle of the penalty area, where Edwards pounced, firing a shot off the boot of the outstretched leg of Dean Hill, who was desperately and vainly trying to block him. It was Edwards' first senior goal for the club.

Suddenly it was Ramsgate who were the edgy ones and Hendon poured forward with renewed confidence. A succession of corners were forced and a second goal began to look more likely.

In the 75th minute, it arrived. Davis hurriedly cleared a ball and sliced it over his own goal line in the left-back position. O'Leary took the corner and curled the ball in perfectly for Page to rise and flick it into the net to score on his debut.

Two minutes later, Hendon should have had a penalty when O'Leary was knocked to the ground by a forearm to the back of the head as he tried to control the ball. However, the referee appeared to miss the challenge and allowed play to continue.

Having recovered, O'Leary then drove a shot off the foot of the left upright with May well beaten. In the 84th minute, Ake had another shot, but Edd Vahid just got a boot to his effort and the ball ricocheted inches wide of the post. Without Vahid's intervention, the Greens would have had a two-goal lead and, almost certainly a first League win.

Instead, it all went horribly wrong. Jazz Rose had already committed an unpunished foul inside his own box when, in the 86th minute, he clumsily upended Mo Takaloo. The free-kick was curled into the six-yard box - Hendon's defence was at least six yards too deep to defend the situation properly - and Lee Minshull had no marker as he stooped to head home from close range.

Ramsgate quickly won the ball back and forced a throw-in level with the Hendon penalty area. Welford took it quickly and threw it long and flat, where Stuart Vahid flicked it on and Takaloo applied the coup de grace.

Desperately chasing the game, Hendon conceded a fourth goal in the 89th minute, Yianni completing a night of misery for the Greens with a deft lob from 25 yards out.

"Our defending was so naive," admitted Mr McCann, "but I really thought we had nicked the win. Of course, they should have been six goals up when we scored our first, but we battled so hard and having got the lead, threw it away."