WILDCATS head coach Ryan Aldridge was delighted with the ‘phenomenal’ impact his young players had as his side mauled the Invicta Dynamos on Sunday night.

Swindon racked up their second Challenge Cup victory of the weekend as they decimated their Kent-based opponents 9-1 at the Link Centre, with 17-year-old forward Glenn Billing starring as he fired home four goals.

But Aldridge heaped praise on all his young starlets, including reserve netminder Michael Crisp, as they helped the Wildcats put on a show for their home fans.

“It was good to get the young boys on. It was good to get Crispy out there but also to get all the young boys that ice time,” said Aldridge.

“To be honest, (Billing) probably could have had eight. I think he had four chances before he had his first one.

“I said to him that you’ve just got to relax and just shoot puck. He ended up getting himself four plus two (assists) and he was outstanding.

“Jonas (Hoog) and Aaron (Nell) helped him out a bit – they were well-taken goals and very good assists as well.

“All of the guys here, even Ollie (Betteridge) and stuff, were prepared to give up their ice time for the young boys, so it’s good that the older guys are taking pride in that.

“I thought they all played great. We kept trying to put them out on the powerplay to try and get somebody else a goal.

“They had some great chances and they carried the puck up the ice on the powerplay better than we do – I thought they were phenomenal.

“A couple of them took some big hits too but they bounced back from it, which was good.”

After Stevie Whitfield’s sublime solo effort was cancelled out almost instantly by the Dynamos’ Steve Osman, Jan Kostal and Betteridge showcased some sublime link-up play with a slick one-two, which allowed the former to blast home with aplomb.

Late in the first period, Betteridge got himself on the scoresheet as his effort found its way into the net through a crowd of players before Nell crashed home as he got on the end of Hoog’s cross-rink pass.

Billing got in on the act as he netted the hosts’ fifth, bamboozling former Swindon netminder Chris Douglas in a one-on-one situation, and was involved in the sixth, with the teenager’s fantastic lay-off with his skate allowing Hoog to blast home on his return to the Link.

The third period allowed the hosts to play with freedom and a stirring counter-attack saw Nell smartly lay the puck off to Billing, who smacked home his second of the evening from range to net a spectacular seventh for his side.

And then, Billing was celebrating for a third time as he fired through the legs of Douglas after reacting quickest to Nell’s drilled pass.

The youngster wasn’t done there though and, assisted by Hoog, he confidently found the net again to put the cherry on a dream outing and leave his team on cloud nine.