RELIEVED Ryan Aldridge was delighted to see his Swindon Wildcats hold their nerve after letting a two-goal lead slip to clinch a dramatic penalty shot victory at Milton Keynes Lightning this evening.

Still flying from their fine victory over league leaders Telford Tigers on Saturday, Swindon raced into a 2-0 lead, courtesy of goals from Adam Harding and Ollie Betteridge, before the hosts hit back to level things up with two goals in the third period.

The two teams couldn’t be separated in overtime but after Aaron Nell smoothly slipped his shot past MK netminder Stephen Wall, the Wildcats’ Stevie Lyle couldn’t be beaten as his team won the shoot-out 1-0 and racked up maximum points in both the English Premier League and Challenge Cup.

“We had a good start, there’s no doubt about that. It was a big powerplay goal and it looked like the game was ours but they were always going to come out hard in the third period,” said Aldridge.

“We made a big mistake to give them that first goal and that just gave them momentum.

“It was a bad line-change. It ended up being a five-on-two going down the ice and it obviously cost us.

“We concentrated on trying to keep the shots from the outside. They like to get behind the net and the zones are very big here as well.

“The offensive and defensive zones are a lot bigger than ours, so you get a lot of shots from the point. There’s a new rule this year that some of the rinks have adapted to and some haven’t, so it’s tough to work in those circumstances.

“Stevie Lyle was outstanding again, like he has been all weekend. And when we get to four-on-four, we just want to take it to a shoot-out because we know we’ve got a good chance of winning in a shoot-out because of Stevie.

“Tonight was big for the cup as well so hopefully we can just keep building and building now.

“It was a massive game for us, for both and league and cup – there’s no doubt about that.”

Aldridge, also reiterated his intention to send video evidence of Blahoslav Novak’s kick on Alex Symonds during yesterday’s clash with Telford.

Both the Tigers man and Symonds were handed game penalties for their clash at the Link Centre, with the Swindon coach disgusted by Novak’s actions.

“I viewed it myself last night. It’s obvious he tries to kick him - there’s no doubt about that - and it’s blade-first as well,” said Aldridge.

“He jumped him as well, which is something the league has to start clamping down on.

“The kick is just not needed. It has to go in to make the league better and it can’t be accepted.”

D-man Stevie Whitfield missed the win at MK after picking up a mild concussion against Telford.