Eastbourne Borough boss Garry Wilson blamed individual errors at both ends of the pitch for the 2-0 defeat at Bishop's Stortford.
Debutant Paul Hakim scored both goals in the first half and Borough wasted a superb chance to hit back when Danny Simmonds missed a penalty on the hour.
Wilson said: "Both of their goals were down to sloppy defending and we weren't lethal enough in front of goal.
"You can't afford to do both against strong teams because it showed that you get punished for it."
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