THE SWINDON Wildcats sealed their progress in the English Premier League Challenge Cup with a professional victory at National League Chelmsford Chieftains tonight.

A 6-2 victory in Essex was enough to see Ryan Aldridge’s men leapfrog Milton Keynes Lightning in the top two of the South group courtesy of their superior head-to-head record with the Buckinghamshire side, moving into the semi-finals alongside Guildford Flames.

The visitors got off the perfect start as they exploded out of the blocks and opened their account with the first ten seconds, Jonas Hoog netting to get the ball rolling for the Wildcats.

Swindon’s hell-for-leather approach didn’t show any signs of abating and at the midway point of the opening period, they were 3-0 up after Aaron Nell and Adam Harding both found the net.

The home side hit back as Martin Pichea tapped home on the rebound after Stevie Lyle couldn’t hold on to Ross Brears’ effort but Aldridge’s men went straight up the other end and restored their three-goal lead courtesy of Hoog’s second of the evening.

Despite the free-flowing nature of the first, the second period saw the goal-glut seemingly evaporate as only Adam Harding came close to adding to the scores early on, with his jinking run and attempted deft finish sliding just wide of the mark.

Swindon did their best to turn the screw but the Chieftains’ defensive unit held firm and with a few minutes of the period remaining, they made things interesting by halving the deficit.

The hosts broke clear on the counter and the puck was eventually worked back to D-man Alex Staples, who opted to try his luck from range and saw his slapshot scream past Lyle to make it 4-2.

Somehow, that late Chelmsford goal failed to spark the clash into life in the third period, with goalscoring chances coming at a premium.

The first clear-cut opportunity of the final phase didn’t come until there was around nine minutes to go, with the Chieftains’ Daniel Hammond firing agonisingly wide of the mark from a great position.

That attempt finally sparked the Wildcats back into life, with Harding allowing his team some breathing space as he fired in his second of the match and the visitors’ fifth.

Malasinski then put the icing on the cake of a job well done as he got in on the act late on.