SWINDON Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell hailed his side’s performance as they beat Telford Tigers 3-1.

Veteran netminder Stevie Lyle may have walked away with the man-of-the-match award after 53 saves over the 60 minutes, but Nell was quick to heap praise on the rest of his players.

“We were very good,” Nell said after the game. “We had a game plan, we stuck to it, everyone bought into it, there wasn’t one player that didn’t put in 100 per cent tonight.

“We were really good and deserved the victory.

“Stevie, there are not enough words to describe him. He was great again.

“But we were all really good, we probably blocked about 25-30 shots - Neil Liddiard blocking 10 of them.”

Cats got off to a fine start against the Shropshire side as a long range strike from skipper Jan Kostal beat Sam Gospel.

Nell bagged his first of the game with five minutes of the first period remaining following some good from Kostal.

The player-coach added the third early in the second period after some good work from Jonas Hoog before Jason Silverthorn grabbed Telford’s only goal in the 40th minute.

“We are starting to turn a corner now. The break was tough, we didn’t have a real training session in three weeks,” Nell said.

“You get out of game shape very quick, but that won’t happen again, we have learnt from that, we have winged it the last few years but have been successful after Christmas.

“We weren’t this year but we will rectify that, we have been flying in practise and there is a good feeling in the room and that is important. We have a good set of lads, if we play like that we will be successful.”

Nell is now determined to make it a four-point weekend for Swindon tomorrow as they head to basement side Bracknell Bees.

The Cats chief, as well as seeking revenge for the 4-3 in Bracknell at the end of November, believes tonight’s success will count for little if they fail to win.

“Tomorrow is a must-win game, we have to play with the same intensity as tonight, if we do that we will win,” he said.

“We have got a chance now with our next three games to get some wins and start climbing the table.

“We have turned the corner and that it good to see – we will have an exciting end to the season.

“We need a four point weekend, we haven’t had one in a while, tomorrow is a big opportunity to that.

“We must play hard and with the same intensity, stick together, Bracknell will see this as a game that they can win – so it makes it bigger than tonight.”