WILDCATS suffered their first defeat of the season after they had their fingers burnt by the Guildford Flames, losing 4-2 at the Link Centre.

Second period goals from Marcus Kristoffersson and Matt Towe gave the visitors the lead.

Strikes from Aaron Nell and Jan Kostal in the third period were not enough to get Cats back into the game, as goals from Tom Duggan and Ben Campbell gave Guildford the win in a game where the points counted for both the league and the Challenge Cup.

Cats headed into the tie full of confidence after starting their campaign with a 4-1 win over the Chelsmford Chieftans in the Challenge Cup.

That was followed up by a penalty win over last season’s league champions Manchester Pheonix.

It was a quiet first period for both sides as they tried to work each other out but Swindon had the better of the opportunities.

Nell had the first sight of goal after just three minutes but saw his shot come off the post.

Nell again had an opportunity three minutes before the break, when Tomasz Malasinski broke on the counter but Nell’s shot was tipped over.

It was then a disappointing second period for Wildcats which saw them fall two shots behind.

The first goal came in the 23rd minute when David Longstaff sent the puck across the face of the goal to the back post where Kristoffersson was on hand to tap home.

The visitors doubled their lead six minutes later when they found themselves with a two-on-one opportunity and Campbell found Towe who fired hard past Stevie Lyle.

Wildcats were then restricted to long range efforts by the visitors, and despite two power plays for the hosts they were unable to capitalise with the extra man.

Lee Richardson received treatment in the third period after taking the puck to the face.

Wildcats got back into the game with 11 minutes left on the clock when Nell came from behind the goal and, with nobody open, he squeezed the ball between the near post and goal tender Gregg Rockman.

Guildford restored their lead through Tom Duggan, before Wildcats made the most of two Flames players in the sin bin when Kostal scored from distance.

However the visitors replied immediately when Campbell was put through one-on-one with Lyle and he wrong footed the stopper to score.

Wildcats pushed for another way into the game and even took off stopper Lyle to give them the extra outfield player but they were unable to prevent suffering their first league defeat.

Cats will now travel to The Spectrum in Guildford tomorrow evening for the return fixture.