Two defeats in two games was hardly the start the Hogges were looking for, but assistant coach Paul Scope saw enough in yesterday's second successive 1-0 defeat to convince him that far happier times lie ahead.

Though prepared to admit that Harrisburg were comfortably the better side over the two games, Scope said the atmosphere in the dressing room remained positive — with the players beginning to believe they can be competitive in the league given a little more experience.

"I thought it was a much better performance than the second game and you can tell from the players' reaction that they know they have a chance of doing better as the season progresses," he said.

"There's no doubt that the better team won both games and it would have been nice to be sitting here this afternoon with one or two points in the bag.

"It's obviously disappointing not to score in either game, but we had ten shots today with six of them on target which is a big improvement on the first game where we didn't have a shot on goal in the second half.

"But I think we've shown that we can be competitive. We said from the outset that it was going to take a little bit of time for us to find our feet in this league.

"The great thing for Kyle (Lightbourne) and I is that we know we have 20 games this summer and also that we've got the opportunity to work with the players continuously and work on a few things that need improving.

"We're trying to play a high-pressure game with a flat back four high up the pitch which, if it works well, can be a very effective way of shutting down space in midfield.

"It's going to take us a little while to perfect it and we had one or two problems with it over the course of the two games.

"But we weren't hammered by any means and both Kyle and I have seen enough to suggest that there'll be some improved results later in the season."

While everybody involved with the Hogges must have been hoping for a bigger turn-out on both days, Scope was keen to thank those that did show up to support the new venture.

"I'm certainly encouraged, we seem to have a got a nice little fan base going there and the atmosphere created was quite lively at times," he said.

"Obviously we want to win games and we certainly didn't go into this league thinking it would be OK to lose our first five games or anything like that.

"At the same time I hope people are patient with the team and give them a chance because it's going to take us a while to get to the level which we need to be at.

"I've got no doubts we can get there though. After the Cincinnati game in May we have four weeks straight where we can really work on the players fitness and spend some quality time together working on things and helping the players get used to the system we want to play.

"And hopefully after that they will be a lot sharper and the results will start coming our way."