CAPTAIN Aaron Lee admits that Purton have endured a difficult campaign by their own standards so far this summer and that the villagers have already turned their attentions to laying the foundations for next season.

Purton have managed to win just a third of their matches so far this summer, a far-cry from their title-chasing exploits last term, where they finished second in the Wiltshire Division behind champions Burbage & Easton Royal.

Lee’s men are currently seventh in the table, 24 points clear of the bottom two, and with six games to go, amassing enough points to ensure that they aren’t looking over their shoulder is the name of the game in the coming weeks.

However, Purton face a tough trip to third-placed title-chasers Marlborough, who will be looking to put their challenge back on track after defeat at Devizes last Saturday, this weekend.

“The league is so up and down at the moment,” said Lee.

“We know that Malmesbury are creeping up on us but we’ve still got to play them and they beat (Great) Bedwyn on the weekend, so that brings them closer to us.

“We really are scrapping for every point at the moment. Marlborough away is a very tough game for us but we’ll go there believing we can win and if we can’t do that, then the next aim will be to get as much out of it as we can.

“Then, we’ll be targeting the teams around us to try and maximise points and make sure that we stay away from the bottom two. Points are precious at the moment.

“We know that we’ve had a tough season, so it’s all about trying to get through it and building for September.”

Lee is also hopeful that some batting talent will return to his line-up for this weekend’s game at the Savernake Forest Ground.

He added:” Hopefully we should have Sam (Shelford) back this weekend and hopefully Elijah (Samuel) too but we’ll have to see if Hampshire Academy need him.”