SWINDON Wildcats coach Ryan Aldridge thought that his team made things hard for themselves as they were forced to dig deep to break down a stubborn Chelmsford Chieftains in their season-opener this evening.

Cats' National League visitors proved a tough nut to crack in the Challenge Cup, withstanding a barrage of Swindon attacks and taking a 1-0 lead into the third period, thanks in no small part to the heroics of netminder Euan King.

But goals from Sam Bullas, Ollie Betteridge, Tomasz Malasinski and Aaron Nell saw the Wildcats roar back to get their campaign off to a winning start with a 4-1 victory.

“It was a bit of a tough one,” said Aldridge.

“I thought we were good in the first period - we were running full lines and the guys were playing different positions with the two imports out.

“But I thought we were a bit rusty in the second. We weren't skating with them and basically got out-worked.

“After a little rant and a few changes, I thought the boys came out hard.

“This guy (King); when he's good, he's good, and he certainly was tonight. But we hit a lot of shots right at his chest.

“We've got to start shooting earlier. Everyone in the building knew when we were going to shoot the puck and we need to start releasing it a little bit quicker.”

Cats were on the front foot from the off, with Bullas chipping an effort just wide of the Chieftains goal whilst Alex Symonds tested the visiting netminder with a powerful slapshot.

Midway through the first period, Swindon's Henri Sandvik was sent racing clear but the Finn skewed his finish wide of the mark before Malasinski tested King again.

With around six minutes remaining, Nell drew yet another save from King whilst as Ryan Harding and Lukas Zatopek were pushing and shoving at one end of the ice after a handful of rough challenges, Stevie Lyle had to be at his best to make a smart save in the Cats goal.

Harding and Zatopek's personal battle came to a head with seconds remaining of the first period.

Chelmsford's Ryan Giles got involved with Harding as he attempted to return to the bench and the pair threw helmets and gloves to the ice before exchanging blows and being subsequently sin-binned.

King made another great save early in the second period, blocking Malasinski's follow-up from Symonds' long-range attempt.

Swindon continued to knock on the door after the first break but against the run of play, the Chieftains took the lead as the Cats defence were caught napping, allowing Danny Hammond to blast home from close range.

After Sandvik breezed past an opponent and knocked the puck back for Betteridge, it looked as though the Cats man was about to knock home the equaliser but his effort skewed agonisingly wide.

The home side began to lay siege to the Chieftains goal but time and again, King was in the way to maintain the visitors' lead.

But just minutes into the third period, the hosts finally made the pressure toll as Bullas fired into the net from close range to level matters and finally break Chelmsford's resistance.

Then, just moments later, a scramble behind the visitors' goal saw the puck break to Betteridge, who blasted high into the top corner to put the hosts in front.

Swindon continued to dominate but with just over five minutes remaining, Lyle pulled off a great stop to prevent Giles hitting back for the visitors.

Then, with around four minutes remaining, Malasinski pounced to sweep home Cats' third of the evening to settle any nerves in the Link Centre.

Late in the game, the visitors switched out their heroic goalie for an additional outfield player and paid the price as the hosts worked the puck across the ice and set up Nell to fire into the unguarded net with aplomb.

Cats make the trip to reigning champions Manchester Pheonix for their first league action of the season tomorrow (face-off 5.30pm).

Aldridge added: “It's a tough ask, especially in their building, but I just want a solid performance for 60 minutes.”