IT WAS goals galore in Gillingham as the Swindon Wildcats blazed a trail past the Invicta Dynamos tonight.

Ryan Aldridge’s side took home maximum points in the Challenge Cup but despite completely outclassing their opponents in the opening period, the National League hosts somehow roared back to hand Swindon a scare and ensure the visitors earned their points.

Dynamos netminder Chris Douglas snatched Jan Kostal’s effort out of the air early on before the visitors eased into the lead with less than three minutes gone, Aaron Nell teeing up Floyd Taylor to crack home into the roof of the net from close range.

It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to double their lead, with Invicta’s appeals for a foul falling on deaf ears as Nell tapped home from a matter of yards and then after Jan Kostal somehow failed to smash home after being smartly set up by Betteridge, Taylor grabbed his second of the evening as Douglas let his strike slip through his legs and into the net.

The rout continued as Kostal found himself one-on-one with the Dynamos goalie and slammed home with aplomb to make it 4-0 but midway through the opening period, the home crowd finally had something to cheer about after a swift counter-attack ended with Elliott Dewey squeezing the puck over the line.

Invicta’s Juraj Huska drew a good save from Stevie Lyle whilst Douglas also did well to keep out another effort from Nell.

And with just a few minutes of the first period remaining, the Wildcats restored the order of the day as, despite being down to four players, an incisive breakaway saw Nell knock a pass inside for Adam Harding to blast into the net with style.

Betteridge blazed forward and just failed to force an effort home late in the period but there was still time for the visitors to add to their tally, with Tomasz Malasinski sublimely jinking past two opponents before firing home.

The Dynamos began the second period on the front foot but after Shane Moore was sin-binned for tripping, the Wildcats broke away on the counter and Malasinski waited for the perfect moment before slamming a strike home past Douglas to make it 7-1.

Soon afterwards, Swindon extended their lead even further through Nell but Invicta hit back as Steve Osman’s deflected strike crashed into the net.

The home fans then found their voices as their team found the net again within minutes, with tenacious work from Callum Fowler allowing Huska to tap home past Michael Crisp.

Then, a pair quick-fire pair of penalties saw the visitors go down to three men and the Dynamos made the pressure count as Andy Smith cracked home to make it 8-4.

Despite the free-scoring nature of the previous 40 minutes, the two teams cancelled each other out in the early stages of the third and final period, with Sam Bullas and Malasinski both drawing saves from goalie Douglas.

But with just over nine-and-a-half minutes to go, the home side continued their scoring streak and netted their fifth as, after Crisp saved from Smith, Huska fired in to reduce the deficit to three goals.

The clash was seemingly worlds away from the opening period, where Swindon appeared to be capable of scoring at will, but the visitors finally found the net again with a few minutes to go as Malasinski arrived to finish off a neat passing move and grab his third of the night.