Following a long absence from league fixtures, Harlow Town looked to pick themselves up and grab some crucial points to boost them up the league standings, especially given the number of games in hand we have over most sides.

Unfortunately though, a home fixture against Kings Langley proved to be a tough challenge for Danny Chapman’s side, and they were unable to defeat the Hertfordshire side, falling to a 1-2 defeat.

In complete honesty, it was a game in which both sides were quite scrappy for large portions of it, but from a home point of view, we never really got going. It was frustrating, we were in second gear for most of the game.

Kings Langley begun the game on the front foot, getting efforts away early at James Pellin’s goal via their number 11, and Harry Davidson, the latter of which was an effort from the edge of the box that forced Pellin to make a fingertip save, the blue player hit it well.

Harlow looked to fire back though and really should have scored when Joe Dearman’s cross was pin-point for Raheem Gray but the forward headed inches wide of the right-post.

Aside from these chances, it was a really stale and quiet first half and at half-time, both sides would have been thinking about how to step it up a gear. Ultimately it was the away side that would have the most success, but Harlow did create some chances.

Louie Collier found himself in a good bit of space for Kings Langley early in the second-half, cutting onto his right but firing way over the bar.

Down the other end, James Love missed from a promising headed opportunity after being picked out at the back-post by Arley Barker’s free-kick cross. Charlie Crowley did get a hand to it, but the header was travelling wide.

The deadlock was finally broken as Harlow took the lead in the 57th minute; Denzel Effah whipped a corner into the box which was headed goalwards by Fabion Simms. Crowley was unable to deal with it under pressure from numerous Harlow players and he ended up parrying it into the back of his own net as the Hawks wheeled away in celebration.

In a similar fashion to Collier’s previous chance, Edu Toiny-Pendred found himself a chance to shoot after being afforded space on the edge of the box, but he dragged his shot wide.

Determined to get themselves back into the game, Kings Langley pushed forward and found Harry Davidson on the left-hand side. Davidson cut inside onto his right and unleashed a sensational finish into the top-right corner which would have been a tough one for any goalkeeper to save, levelling the game.

Barely two minutes later, Kings Langley punished Harlow for poor defending from a corner, with Jamie Ovington heading at the back-post through the hands of James Pellin and into the back of the net. All of a sudden the game had flipped on its head and Harlow had a mountain to climb.

Kings Langley had almost scored three goals in the space of six minutes when they found the back of the net again, but Harry Davidson (who tapped it in) was offside at the back-post so the Hawks could breathe a sigh of relief.

More Kings Langley chances followed through Toiny-Pendred and Davidson, but neither were able to find the net on those two occasions.

With time quickly running out, and Kings Langley successfully killing the game at every possible opportunity, Denzel Effah had a chance to make something happen with a free-kick on the right-hand side. He went for the top-left corner, but was just wide of the mark.

Fresh off the bench, Dwade James almost found the net after a header from a Kings Langley defender played him in on goal, but Dwade, one-on-one with Crowley, smashed it high and wide.

In the end, it was too-little, too-late and it didn’t feel like we were going to score at all. It was a frustrating watch, and wasn’t dissimilar to our 2-3 defeat against Dunstable Town here last month.

We thank you for your continued support and hope to see you at tomorrow’s game as we look to pick ourselves up and win against an AFC Welwyn side who are in good form and sit third in the league. It is a home game and we look forward to seeing you there.