PURTON skipper Aaron Lee is wary of the threat of a newly-buoyant Great Bedwyn side this weekend as his side try to bounce back from last week’s WEPL Wiltshire reverse against Marlborough.

Lee conceded his side came off second best as they lost for the first time in the league this summer, while Bedwyn were breaking their own duck in the division with victory over Calne.

The villagers are determined not to lose any more ground on the leaders despite Lee being more than content with their start to the campaign.

“We are happy with the position we are in, I’m happy with where we are in the league,’’ he said.

“There is a good buzz about the club, we are really happy at the moment. Last week was a blip, one defeat in five isn’t bad and we are still third in the table.”

Lee insists maintaining winning momentum could prove crucial as Purton try to challenge for honours at the end of the summer.

“You get into a habit of winning and losing, we need to keep this going because we have some key fixtures coming up and we are trying to keep this momentum going,” he added.

Bedwyn are anticipating the return of prolific batsman Rob Palmer from injury, although whether that will be in time to face Purton remains to be seen.

Lee added: “They have a great batsman in Rob Palmer and on his day he is one of the best batsmen in the league. Last year he scored 150 on his own, I’m not sure if he will be playing because he has had a few injuries recently.

“We need to go there and play. Last year we made it difficult for ourselves, we will go there and we will be confident of the win.’’

Meanwhile, Swindon host Malmesbury at the County Ground.

Andy Staff’s side failed to make the most of a winning position against Westbury last weekend, losing their final three wickets without score to finish in a tie.

Malmesbury themselves are without a win since the opening day of the season, but victory for Swindon should see them re-engage with the teams towards the top of the table.

Staff said: “We have got the same side so we have some consistency there. We were obviously disappointed not to win last week but we need to build on the positives.

“We need to turn those 50s into 70s and 80s. Westbury are a good side, we put in a good performance.”

“We have played three of the strongest sides, we didn’t get beaten last week and each week we have got better we are going in the right direction.”

“I don’t think we have played as well as we could have. We have played well for some of the time but we need to make sure we can be consistent in games.’’