Swindon Wildcats completed an all-important four-point weekend thanks to an inspired third period against the Raiders last Sunday. With influential forward Sam Bullas out of the line-up it would prove to be a tough contest for the Cats who on their two previous visits to London had won thanks to a late Chris Jones goal, before losing on our last visit to Romford.
However, this time the Wildcats would come away with a 6-2 win. The game started and the Wildcats were swiftly into their stride, and at 3:13 they opened the scoring. A nice worked move by Jonas Hoog saw the Swede slide the puck back to Aaron Nell who was able to slam the puck home and give the Wildcats the early lead.
It proved to be the only goal of the opening period, but chances still fell at both ends of the ice through guys like Max Birbraer for Swindon and JJ Pitchley for Raiders.
Into the middle period and the Wildcats again pounced early to double their lead. Chris Jones was able to snipe the puck right into the top corner to make it 0-2 with the assists going to Max Birbraer and Neil Liddiard, timed at 21:36. As the game approached the halfway stage the Raiders were able to get back into the contest.
At 31:54 they managed to convert their powerplay chance when Juraj Huska was set up by Blaho Novak and Aaron Connolly. The Raiders import wasted no time and slid the puck under Renny Marr to make it 1-2. The game would be tied soon after, at 32:58. The Wildcats powerplay broke down and allowed Brandon Ayliffe the chance to skate through on goal with a shorthanded breakaway. The youngster moved the puck to his backhand and shot the puck high above the glove of Renny Marr to make it 2-2.
Thankfully for Swindon, they would not be level for long. At 34:11 they retook the lead on the powerplay. Chris Jones and Jonas Hoog linked up well below the net and Jonas fed the puck to Eddie Bebris in the slot who slammed the puck through the legs of Michael Gray to give the Wildcats a 2-3 lead going into the final period.
The final stanza would begin in cagey fashion with the game finely balanced no side would want to make the mistake that with give the other the advantage. At 51:37 the deadlock in the third period was broken, and it was in favour of the Wildcats. Right off the face-off Aaron Nell fed the puck to Jonas Hoog who ripped the shot on goal from a tight angle and found room to make it 2-4.
In the last few minutes of the game the Wildcats were able to score their 5th and 6thgoals through some unlikely names. Firstly, a rush down the right from Max Birbraer saw plenty of room on the left wing for Tyler Plews to move into and rip the puck into the top right corner. Only minutes later, at 58:34, a shorthanded breakaway saw Chris Jones feed the puck across to Stevie Whitfield who also managed to beat Gray to make it 2-6 and that would be how the game finished.
The Wildcats had earned a big four-point weekend and head into February on top spot of the NIHLS1 table before huge cup semi-final games this coming weekend against the Basingstoke Bison.
