HARTLEY Wintney skipper Danny Plume hopes his side can put their poor start behind them in the Southern League Division Two.

The village side suffered their third loss on the trot last weekend, when they were defeated by early leaders Trojans.

Next up is a trip to Paultons and the return of opening batsman Jack Hersh will strengthen the top order further and all-rounder Chris Saville is back. However, missing the trip will be Patrick Joseph and wicketkeeper Richard Hill, so Matt Rudd comes in.

Plume said: "I see the amount of talent we have in this side and once we click we will go on a winning run. As a team the mood is very positive, so I am looking forward to the trip to Paultons."

Last weekend, in their game against Trojans,visiting captain Ed Boyd won the toss and decided to bat. The home side bowled well for the first 10 overs, but were unable to make a break through.

This allowed openers Boyd (64) and Simon Williams to move the total to 130-0 after 25 overs.

A score of 300 plus looked on the cards at the picturesque village setting, but the home side hit back as Plume snapped up the wicket of Williams for 74, thanks to an excellent catch from James Millward with the score on 149.

The Trojans were then further pegged back, as they lost three more wickets for just 21 runs, but some late big hitting from Nigel Le Bas (42 not out) and Syed Mahmood (47) got them to 279-5 The home side were soon in trouble as opener Garwood was out for two. This brought Hartley captain Plume (18) to the centre and along with opener Matt Kerr (19) they looked to have steadied the ship as they reached 48-1.However, both were caught in the slips by Mahmood.

Hartley, then found themselves with their top five back in the pavilion for 73, following the departure of Joseph (5) and Baldwin (15) again, thanks to another couple of Mahmood slip catches.

Only Will Ross with an excellent unbeaten 29 was able to get to grips with the visitor’s attack, which included a lovely six off the bowling of Mario Mohmmed as they were all out for 127.