JAMIE Lloyd-Davies was full of praise for his ever-improving Swindon Town Women side despite defeat away at Cheltenham Town on Sunday.

A sole goal settled the game in the Gloucestershire outfit’s favour, though they were left holding onto their spoils by determined attacking play from Swindon.

Lloyd-Davies’ women battled gamely in the second period but were denied what would have been a hard-earned point, Cheltenham’s winner coming in a first half when they found themselves backed by a strong wind.

After a number of burgeoning displays against some of the top sides in Women’s National League Division One South West, Lloyd-Davies says the game he is instilling in his side is showing more than ever.

“We were disappointed with the result being that we were heavily in control of the second half of the game, in my opinion,” he said.

“I felt we dominated the ball for a lot of spells of the game, apart from the first half where, due to the conditions, we were backs to the wall for a little bit.

“But the second half I felt we dominated. It’s one of those things.

“It’s amazing to see the players’ efforts in buying into our playing style coming to fruition.”

The improvements Town’s women have been making are coming on quicker than Lloyd-Davies imagined.

In the league it has been a tough season, with just one win in the bag – although the Wiltshire FA Women’s Cup final awaits at the end of the month.

However, the manager has no doubt more of the same from recent weeks will see that record change.

“If you look at our results against three of the top four teams, we’ve improved far more than I expected,” he said.

“I was thinking more towards the end of the season was when we were going to see the real progress.

“Moving forward it just keeps surprising me how much we’ve improved.

“I don’t see why we can’t keep building on these brilliant performances, fantastic work-rate, and start picking up some positive results.”