Harlow Town manager Mark Kennedy felt his side performed well despite suffering a 1-0 home loss to Chalfont St Peter, their fourth straight defeat in the Isthmian South Central Division.

An own goal from debutant JJ Da Cruz after half an hour gave Chalfont all three points, which moves them level on 34 points with the Hawks.

Da Cruz is one of four new signings to have joined Harlow in the past week, coming in alongside the returning Fabian Simms, Patrick Campbell and William Dupray, while Songona-Mory Haziz Kone has been promoted from the reserve side.

Kennedy said after the game: “We performed well in the way we kept the ball and passed the ball. We’ve got a couple of new faces, a new defender, a new midfielder and Fabian coming back. Sometimes you can have the majority of the play and you lose the game 1-0 like that.

“It’s very frustrating, but on the other hand we’re trying to turn the corner in a short space of time and we need a long space of time.

“Possession wise, they can’t believe their luck. They came all the way down here and got an own goal and they’ve lost two players straight from the off – one with a hamstring and another one that went off with, I think, a cracked ankle. Yet, they’ve got an own goal against us and gone on a won 1-0.”

Harlow’s recent slump has seen them drop into the bottom half of the table, with just two league wins out of nine so far in 2020, but Holloway believes that new additions to the club’s playing personnel slowly improving their performances.

He said: “We’re slowly turning a corner by bringing the players in that I have done and changing the squad around. It’s going to take a few weeks for them to settle into the way we play as well.”

Meanwhile, the club have confirmed the departure of Tayo Oyebola, who has been released from his contract due to internal misconduct.