PURTON skipper Aaron Lee took heart from the battling qualities on display from his side as they went down to high-flying Westbury at the weekend.

After getting off to a slow start with the ball, the villagers bit back to dismiss their opponent for 233 but they were unable to stand up to Westbury’s fearsome bowling attack, eventually being skittled themselves for 163 in the 39th over.

However, Lee was pleased to see his team come away from the contest with seven points as they look to maintain their distance from the Wiltshire Division drop zone.

“Nobody likes to lose a game but we were strangely happy because we took seven points and the team scrapped and scraped for them,” said the Purton captain.

“They were 98-1 from their first 25 overs and then we got them all out for 233, so the second half of our bowling was really good.

“We knew that we’d struggle against their bowling because they’ve got the best bowling attack in the league. Alex Senneck is probably one of the best bowlers in the WEPL and the guy that took five wickets (Richard Oakley) was very good.

“Our batting has let us down a bit. I don’t think we’ve had a century all season, which is unheard of for us.

“We didn’t have the openers we wanted to have last weekend. Sam Shelford had work commitments and Elijah Samuel was playing for Hampshire Academy, which I guess takes preference.

“But Tom Whittaker did really well – that was probably the best I’ve seen him bat.”

Purton put their visitors in to bat first after winning the toss and Richard Mills (60), alongside Jared McDonald (45), got Westbury off to a promising start.

But in the second half of the innings, Tom Bowler piled on the pressure and ended the afternoon with figures of 5-50, with captain Lee also taking a pair of wickets, as the away side were dismissed for 233 at the end of their 50 overs.

But Purton’s run-chase never really got off the ground, with number seven Tom Whittaker (63) the only batsman to offer up any real resistance as the hosts were skittled 70 runs short, Richard Oakley taking 5-38.

Meanwhile, Marlborough’s title ambitions suffered a blow as they slipped to a second successive defeat at Devizes.

The hosts posted 283-3, with Brad Frost taking 4-54, before Marlborough were skittled out for 214 in the final over, as Peter Day top scored with 55.