SWINDON Wildcats were held to a 3-3 draw by Manchester Phoenix in their first challenge game of the pre-season.

A first goal from new signing Corey McEwen added to strikes from Aaron Nell and Tomasz Malasinski tto put the Cats in the lead until 46 seconds from time, in front of a big crowd at the Link Centre.

Robin Kovar and Nico Aaltonen both pulled the Phoenix within a goal before Stanislav Gron secured the draw for the visitors in the dying seconds.

Nell showed no signs of rustiness from the summer break as he took just one minute and seven seconds to open his account for the Wildcats with his first opportunity.

New signing McEwen made an immediate impact as he rounded his defender with ease, before serving it up on a plate for Nell to open the scoring.

You could tell the fans had missed ice hockey this summer as they cheered every hit in the opening stages, with Jordan Hedley making a fine start in between the sticks, with Stevie Lyle opting to watch from the sidelines in a sharp suit.

In the second period captain Jan Kostal tried to get himself off the mark but saw his effort strike Stephen Fone’s upright.

Swindon extended their lead seven minutes into the second period when Nell and McEwen again linked up.

The former pulled the puck down from the air before a reverse pass to the 22-year-old, who made no mistake from close range.

The visitors pulled a goal back eight minutes before the end of the period when Kovar got himself on the end of a good move to score past Hedley, who had made some important saves to deny the Phoenix until that point.

Malasinski broke his duck in the third period as he latched onto a prod in front of goal from Miroslav Zalesak in the 42nd minute.

Floyd Taylor was given a match penalty in the final period for kneeing, with 15 minutes remaining and the visitors soon made the most of the extra man when Aaltonen scored from a narrow angle within a minute.

Manchester thought they had pulled level on 47 minutes when they had the puck in the back of the net, but it was ruled out by the referee.

Swindon were able to see out the rest of the penalty without conceding and could have extended their lead when McEwen was put through one-on-one with Fone, but the Manchester stopper did enough to deny the centre.

Aaltonen saw an effort fly off Hedley’s crossbar, before Ben Wood also hit the frame of the goal as the visitors pushed for an equaliser.

The leveller came with 46 seconds on the clock as Gron poked home from close range with the assist from Kovar.