AARON Nell’s tenure as Swindon Wildcats head coach got off to a winning start as they proved too hot for Guildford Flames this evening.

Nell led his troops into battle less than 48 hours after taking the reins at the Link Centre following the shock departure of Stevie Lyle on Friday.

Many would have expected a disjointed Cats performance after such a tumultuous few days but instead it seemed to have a galvanising effect as they romped to a seventh success in their opening 14 English Premier League fixtures.

Canadian import Carlo Finucci was the hero for the Cats after grabbing a hat-trick of goals, Tomasz Malasinski got two, while Adam Harding and Nell himself were also on target.

Nell’s reign actually got off to a nightmare start as his side were in arrears inside 30 seconds, with Jens Eriksson afforded too much space and he rifled a strike past Jordan Hedley.

From there, though, it was one-way traffic until the first buzzer sounded and Finucci levelled things up after being picked out at the back post by Cats captain Jan Kostal.

Czech ace Kostal was again the provider as Swindon got their noses in front, finding Harding to sweep the puck home.

The home side then moved 3-1 to the good when Greg Rockman was unable to hold a Jonas Hoog strike, with Malasinski pouncing to score.

At that point the Flames called a timeout and opted to replace their netminder, with Stephen Wall going between the pipes. However, even with Harding in the penalty box for the Cats it did not stem the tide.

Swindon almost got a goal on the counter when Malasinski fired straight at Wall before they did make it 4-1 despite being a man light when Finucci stole the puck on halfway and raced forward to score his second.

New coach Nell then got on the scoresheet after being found by Malasinski to take his side’s tally to five in eight breathless minutes.

Things then began to quieten down, with Flames unable to reduce the deficit before the buzzer. Kevin Phillips sent a shot just wide, while a smart double save from Hedley denied Matic Kralj and then Ben Campbell.

Cats found themselves a man light early in period two when Lee Richardson was penalised and the visitors made the extra man count as Matt Towe hit the back of the net.

However, Cats hit straight back and Finucci completed his treble with a crisp strike.

The end-to-end action continued as Tom Duggan was on target to cut the gap again for Flames but the goals soon tailed off once more.

Further chances did come, with Hedley doing really well to keep out Marcus Kristoffersson, while Wall denied Floyd Taylor at the other end.

Malasinski, Nell and then Hoog fired in a flurry of strikes as the Cats bombarded the Flames goal but there was not further addition to the score before the buzzer.

Guildford lay siege to the Cats goal as the final period got under way but Hedley kept them at bay with two fine saves from Erik Piatak and then Campbell.

However, they could not be kept out forever and Kevin Phillips cut the deficit to two and set up a nervy finale.

Any doubts the Cats had were calmed before the final buzzer as they took their goals tally to a magnificent seven. Nell appeared to mis-hit a shot but Malasinski was on hand to poke the puck over the line and complete an excellent night's work.