SWINDON’S Jon Sore reckons that his side may have been defeated by the side destined to win WEPL Wiltshire.

Andy Staff’s men travelled to west Wiltshire to take on Westbury on Saturday but were unable to prevent their in-form hosts from racking up a fifth victory on the spin and moving to within three points of leaders Marshfield.

Sore conceded that Swindon were outclassed at Wellhead Lane and is tipping Westbury to emerge as the cream of the crop come September 3.

“I think that we were beaten by the better side on Saturday to be honest,” said Sore.

“We were a bit surprised at the quality of the wicket because we expected a lot more runs to be scored than there were.

“At the start of their innings, we managed to restrict them and they were well short at drinks but after that, they got the upper hand.

“They then did the same thing to us and we just weren’t able to score anywhere near enough runs – it was the best bowling attack we’ve faced this year.

“They’re in a great position and if you look at their run-in, they’ve still got to play Marshfield, who are top, and then after that, they play teams that are below them in the table.

“I think that they’re the side that will probably go on and win the league this season.”

Westbury batted first after winning the toss and although they were put under plenty of pressure, opener Richard Mills (54) and Brannon Varley (63) kept the home side ticking over. Ben Whiting also chipped in with a knock of 44 as Westbury posted 231-8.

Swindon’s run-chase never really got off the ground as their wickets tumbled at regular intervals, with Staff’s men losing their first five for just 83 runs.

Marc Williamson (59) offered some resistance with the visitors’ highest score but Douglas Baartman and Michael Wilson (both 21) were the only other Swindon batsmen to offer any significant resistance as they were dismissed for 168 in the 48th over.