SWINDON Wildcats claimed their first win of the season after defeating Manchester Phoenix 5-2 at the Link Centre.

Goals from Tomasz Malasinski, Maxim Birbaer, Ben Davies and Aaron Nell were enough to see off the league’s basement side.

Swindon again had a slow start to the game, falling behind early on for third consecutive game when Stevie Lyle couldn’t prevent the puck from hitting the back of the net.

On 1:51, Manchester’s Edgars Bebris put them ahead with a long-range effort from the left hand-side at the Link Centre.

Thankfully the Cats were able to respond fairly quickly when Malasinski poked the puck past the Manchester netminder with 3:33 on the clock.

Aaron Nell’s side would then have a flurry of chances as they began to assert their dominance.

Nell himself came close when he was denied from close range by Stephen Fone with just over 10 minutes of the match played.

Goalscorer Malasinski went close again, this time hitting his shot on the turn, but sadly it was just wide of the goal.

Birbraer then managed to get the Wildcats in the lead after 15 minutes of play and deservedly so when his shot was too much for Fone to deal with.

Moments later Davies snatched it off the stick near the Manchester goal, but was unable to make the most of the chance as it remained 2-1 as the first period drew to a close.

A sigh of relief from the Swindon fans, as Manchester missed an open goal to keep the score at 2-1 to the hosts.

Both teams were a little frantic so far in the second period, with both side giving away possession cheaply.

After a scrappy start to the second period, on the half hour mark it burst into life, Manchester Phoenix’s Roman Malinik brought the teams level for the second time in the match.

Much like the first period, the Wildcats hit back when Davies found the net just two minutes later on 32:12 to make it 3-2 to Nell’s team.

It was then the Wildcats who would further push home their advantage after assisting Davies, Malasinski claimed his second of the game a minute later, thanks to an assist from Kyle Smith.

At the beginning of the third, Lyle did well to catch the puck with his left hand to maintain the Cats' two-goal advantage against a Manchester side who looked uncomfortable at times.

Birbraer managed to claim a loose pass between the Phoenix defenders, but after taking it to the net, he was unable to make it 5-2.

With just under 15 minutes of the period remaining, a goalmouth scramble saw the puck on the line with the fifth goal on offer, but no-one was able to lash the puck into the gaping net.

Jonas Hoog found himself through on goal, but was unable to apply the finish and get the goal which would seal the win for the Cats.

Then with 17 seconds left, the Cats made it 5-2, when Nell was able to apply the finish after break through the Manchester defence. Despite Manchester’s best efforts they never looked capable of getting back in the lead as the game finished 5-2 to the Wildcats.