SWINDON Panthers played their second game against Army Blades on Saturday, running out 5-2 winners and raising £200 for Help for Heroes in the process.

Panthers had triumphed 7-2 the last time the teams met but Army Blades had added some English National League players to their line-up to make for a tough fixture at the Link Centre.

The first period started at a fast pace and play flowed from end to end as both teams had chances to open the scoring that were either missed or saved by the netminders.

It took until midway through the opening period for the deadlock to be broken, with the Army getting their noses in front through Hatfield.

The remainder of the period continued in the same vein as both teams missed good opportunities to add to the scoreline as Blades clung on to their 1-0 advantage.

Period two started where the first had left off, with end-to-end action and several quality chances, with one of these finally taken as Ian Clark slotted home from point-blank range to even things up for Panthers.

Swindon needed one of their regular goal scorers to step up and finish some of the numerous chances that were being created and Robin Davison was the man to respond as he slotted home to close out the period 2-1 in the Panthers’ favour.

Again, it was much of the same in the third and final period and although Panthers had now seemed to click into gear, they conceded another goal as Grey levelled up the scores for the Army.

This strike seemed to fire up the Panthers and they had the majority of possession from there until the final buzzer and again Davison stepped up to the mark to finish off a neat move and put his side back in front.

Davison then completed his hat-trick with just under 10 minutes left on the clock to give the home side some breathing space.

A few moments later, Davison turned provider as he set up new Panther, Pete Bradford, to slot home Swindon’s fifth goal and wrap up the scoring.

Both goalies had to face more than 40 shots throughout the match and Swindon’s Andy Webster and his Army counterpart Warrington were both honoured with the man of the match awards.

Panthers also have a new team sponsor on board this season, Mediaplant Ltd, who have provided the team with a full new strip and socks, while the Harvester Pub will sponsor their man of the match awards.

The Panthers will now prepare for their first league game on Sunday, June 5, when they take on Chelmsford Nighthawks at the Link Centre.