AARON Nell hailed netminder Jordan Hedley after the teenager put in a heroic display between the pipes to help him make a winning start as Swindon Wildcats head coach.

Nell oversaw a 7-4 success over Guildford Flames at the Link Centre this evening in his first match in charge since Stevie Lyle’s shock decision to quit earlier this week.

The departure of netminder Lyle has also thrust youngster Hedley into the spotlight as he has had to step up as the Cats number one.

He was not daunted by the challenge and was the stand-out performer against Guildford, with player/coach Nell confirming post-match that Hedley would remain as the Cats’ first-choice stopper.

“He was brilliant. In the third period we did get a bit tired and he made some great saves,” said Nell.

“Jordan is 19 years old and he has got a great future ahead of him. I know Stevie talked about him being here for a long time and we want him for a long, long time.

“We are very lucky to have Jordan and we have all got a lot of confidence in him.

“He is young and we all going to have good nights and bad nights but he is very good and he enjoys it here.

“We are going to look for another goalie but Jordan is going to be our number one.”

Nell admitted it has been a difficult few days for everyone involved with the club and he was proud of the performance put in by his troops in the face of adversity.

“It’s been a long old week, I have never had a week quite like it,” said Nell.

“All the boys were ready to go tonight and they wanted to show that we are a good team and I think we showed that tonight.

“Guildford are a very good team and they spanked us last time so to come back like that we were very happy.

“It’s been a lot of shock. We all like Stevie. It’s been a tough few days for all of us.

“When we are or the ice we have got to enjoy it and we have to work hard and any negatives that come out we have to try to make them into positives.

“We have pulled together, we should all be proud of what’s happened and now we have to go to Basingstoke tomorrow and try to get that first four-point weekend.”

The Flames threatened to spoil Nell’s first-night party when they took the lead inside 30 seconds, however, Swindon mounted a brave response and were 5-1 up by the time the first buzzer sounded.

“A lot of things were going through my head (after the first goal), coaching got real pretty quick,” said Nell.

“The boys bounced back really quick. Jan Kostal’s line scored two massive goals and we were all great all night, every one of us.

“I’m not going to replace Stevie Lyle and Jordan is not going to replace him, it’s going to be our whole team. We have all got to pull together and get better every week.

“It was all part of the script I guess, I don’t think many people would have thought we would fight back like we did.

“It was great character to the boys to come back and we sat back a bit in the last 40 minutes but it was quite comfortable.”