A SECOND narrow defeat in three weeks had Purton skipper Elliot Hill seething 48 hours after his side’s clash with Winsley came to an end.

After being beaten by one wicket by Trowbridge on the opening day, Purton fell six runs short of Winsley’s target of 183 this time around, as only Sam Pinchin scored more than 30 with the bat.

For Hill, not all that used to losing during his time in charge of the team, the bitter taste of defeat proved hard to wash away and he was still suffering the upset last night.

“I’m still in a bad mood from it sat at work today,” he told the Advertiser. “The top four batters in particular got to high teens to 30-something and we all got ourselves out. I wouldn’t say we were got out, it was loose shots or crazy run outs that got us out. If one of us had stuck our hand up and got 50 or 60 we’d have cantered home.

“The new ball bowlers didn’t get any wickets, unfortunately, and it gave them a head start. Our middle overs bowlers clawed the game back and if we’d maybe have started that way we maybe wouldn’t have been chasing so many.”

Tom Bowler claimed 5-47 and Tobias Bowler 3-30 as Purton restricted their guests to 182 all out in 41 overs at the PCG but Pinchin, Hill, Deepak Ramani and Tom Bowler all gave their wickets away after getting starts at the top of the home team’s reply.

From 129-4, the hosts limped to 176 all out, leaving Hill hugely disappointed.

“There’s a little bit of blame with bat and ball but it’s incredibly frustrating to lose another tight one because we could quite easily be sat here played two, won two but unfortunately we’re not - we’re sat at the other end of that spectrum,” he said.

“It’s very disappointing, it’s frustrating, I hate losing and I felt I gave my wicket away which infuriates me because it’s something inside of my control. You can’t change what’s been and gone so you’ve just got to use that hurt to move forward and hopefully channel it into a positive way come next Saturday.”