RYAN Aldridge was in no doubt over the importance of maximum points as his Swindon Wildcats side beat Invicta Dynamos in the Challenge Cup tonight.

The Wildcats raced into a 6-1 first period lead as they out-classed their National League opponents early on but after easing off, Aldridge’s men came under threat of being on the receiving end of an upset as the Gillingham-based Dynamos hit back.

The Swindon chief says that professionalism was key for his team as they looked to keep their minds focused on the task in hand and was happy to come away with a victory, even if it wasn’t as straightforward as he would have liked.

“We didn’t want to embarrass them in their own building and obviously they weren’t having a great start,” said Aldridge.

“We took our foot off the gas a little bit and slowed it down a little bit, and it was close to back-firing on us a little bit I guess.

“But we did enough to go on and win it. It is what it is – we’re happy to get out of here with the circumstances. A win’s a win at the end of the day.

“I was happy with the way that we came out started because these games can be tough, especially against these top teams in the ENL. They want to come out and prove a point and try and take someone down.

“We stressed (on Saturday night) and right before the game that those points were massive and we had to really take this game seriously because we do want to move on in the cup.

“IIt’s tough. You have to try and keep a lid on it and try and keep the guys concentrated because the jokes start coming out and stories start being told about the building and old games.

“It is tough to keep the boys focussed but the way they started tonight; they were definitely ready.”

Reserve netminder Michael Crisp also grabbed some vital time in the ice and Aldridge thought the 22-year-old didn’t deserve to concede four times.

The Wildcats boss said: “We put Crispy in and the boys weren’t playing well at that point. He had three unlucky shots, which were problems on our D core really.

“You know how cold it is. He’d been sat there for a long since his warm-up so to go jump straight in and face the first three or four shots he faced was a tough ask as well.

“Once he settled in, he was great and he made a few huge saves at the end as well.”