PURTON boss Justin Miller was pleased to put two defeats behind him as they scratched out a 1-0 win at home to local rivals Shrivenham.

A Ben Carter strike just a minute before the break was all that separated the two sides on a bitterly cold afternoon at Redhouse.

The win helps Purton keep the pressure on the two sides above them at the top of the table and, despite the performance not quite being right, Miller was happy to take the points and a clean sheer.

“I’m delighted,” said the Purton manager.

“On the back of two defeats I am just pleased with the three points.

“We’ve played five games and only won one. We probably should have won four of those five games and we haven’t had the slice of luck.

“The performance first half wasn’t great, they were the better team and had a couple of opportunities and were unlucky.

“We were fortunate with the goal – a goalie error – but in the second half we were much better and probably deserved the victory in the end.

“It was difficult because it was very cold and very windy and the wind certainly played a factor in the first half.

“This week the performance wasn’t great but we showed great character.”

In the first half many at Redhouse would have been convinced that the visitors were the side in the top three and the hosts were the ones struggling at the foot of the Hellenic Division One table.

Michael McNally’s side made the most of having the cold wind in their favour and Corey Forbes had the best chance to open the scoring when he latched onto a pulled back ball from Kias Bonner-Shea, in the 11th minute, but saw his effort cleared off the line.

Joe Branch then saw a good shot from the left saved well by Daniel Gough in the Purton goal after 20 minutes as Shrivenham continued to pile the pressure on the hosts.

However, it was Purton who broke the deadlock in the 44th minute when Ben Carter fought for a long ball forward and his shot to the near post slipped under the body of Willl Henry.

With the goal advantage and the wind in their favour in the second half, Purton looked comfortable and could have doubled their lead in the 75th minute when Tom Cadden was denied one-on-one with Henry.

“I think the first 35 or 40 minutes we have dominated the game again and had five or six decent chances and not put them in the back of the net,” said McNally.

“They have had a half chance and scored and we end up going in 1-0 down.

“We didn’t really come out second half and perform like we have been doing.

“It was a bit of a toothless performance second half where I thought there was a great opportunity to take the three points.”