Enfield Town Ladies manager Kyri Neocleous praised his team after they narrowly lost to Charlton Athletic in the Capital Cup semi final on Sunday.

Enfield went down 1-0 to a second half strike from Charlton’s Amy Howlett and matched the side from the division above them for much of the match.

The defeat sees Enfield’s chances of winning a trophy this season come to an end but Neocleous was keen to focus on the positives.

“The performance under difficult circumstances was fantastic and we still had a chance of taking something right at the last moment,” he said.

“We have shown today that we can compete with a top class side in the league above and that is testament to how far the girls have come this season.”

Enfield found themselves behind on 52 minutes after Howlett found space and hit a dipping strike into the top corner.

With the game being played in driving rain and high winds, Enfield had to show great determination to restrict Charlton to one.

Neocleous explained: “We defended well and have shown that we can maintain a good shape while withstanding large amounts of pressure and stick to our game plan.”

With Enfield’s cup-run now consigned to the history books they will turn their attentions to the reminder of the league campaign.

The Towners face three more games, starting with a home game against Norwich on Sunday, and Neocleous believes the cup experience will stand them in good stead for the run in.

“We have to take the positives and understand that we will not play against this amount of quality in the league on a regular basis,” he said.

“We now have three league games left and I have set the group a target of seven points from a possible nine.

“If we can do that we will have had a strong finish to an inconsistent campaign.”