Wildcats tamed on their own ice

This is what you call revenge Phantoms style . . .

Less than a fortnight after seeing a long unbeaten streak ended by Swindon, the city men returned the compliment with a terrific success on the Wildcats’ own Wiltshire ice last Saturday night.

And it wasn’t just the result at The Link Centre that earned rave reviews – the manner in which the tabletoppers were brushed aside was mightily impressive.

Phantoms were stung by a Swindon opener from Toms Rutkis after just 85 seconds, but they soon gained control thanks to a swift scoring salvo with three goals in little more than four minutes as a Corey McEwen brace against his former club was followed by a powerplay strike from import Ales Padelek.

Phantoms cashed in another numerical advantage in the second period when player-coach Tom Norton added their fourth goal and Swindon could only manage one reply from Sam Bullas in the final session.

The Wildcats pulled netminder Renny Marr with more than two-and-a-half minutes left on the clock, but Phantoms comfortably saw out the contest to issue a serious statement of intent to their rivals.