SWINDON Wildcats lost 4-3 to Basingstoke at the Link Centre last night.

Joe Miller netted a treble for Bison, meaning Jan Kostal's brace and Adam Harding's goal was not enough for Cats to avoid defeat.

Both sides opened the encounter at a frantic pace and it didn’t take long for the first goal to arrive as Tomas Karpov swept up from close range to slam home a rebound.

It took Wildcats until the closing two minutes of the opening period to level matters as they took advantage of a powerplay, with Harding given time and space to fire a slapshot past his former Swindon teammate Dean Skinns.

Neither side could nudge in front during the opening stages of the second session, but in the 32nd minute Miller collected a loose puck and let off a powerful shot which beat netminder Stevie Lyle with Cats shorthanded.

This time the hosts were able to level quickly as coach Ryan Aldridge found himself with time to shoot with the resulting effort allowing import Kostal the chance to tap home an easy equaliser.

The teams were level going into the final session but again it took 12 minutes for either side to notch ahead, with Miller grabbing his second to put the visitors in front once again, and just a minute later it was 4-2 as the forward completed his treble.

Wildcats clawed their way back into the contest quickly, as Kostal found the top corner to cut the deficit to just a single goal, but they couldn’t find a second and the Link Centre side fell to a disappointing home defeat.