SWINDON Wildcats’ hopes of a fourth straight English Premier League win went up in smoke this evening as they were burned by Guildford Flames.

A solitary goal in each of the opening periods had the home side in control at the Spectrum and although Tomasz Malasinski’s strike early in the final period gave Aaron Nell’s side a lifeline, two more Flames efforts killed off their hopes.

The Cats were unable to carry on their free-scoring form of the previous night’s 7-0 success at home to Bracknell Bees and drew a blank in the first period.

Swindon actually had the first sight of goal when Max Birbraer sent an effort the wrong side of the post, while at the other end, Kevin Phillips forced visiting netminder Stevie Lyle into a save.

Malasinski then darted forward but could not keep his strike on target before Lyle plucked an effort from Danny Meyers out of the air.

A penalty for Guildford’s Tom Duggan looked like it would hand Swindon the initiative but it was actually the hosts who were first to strike while short-handed as Meyers snaffled a loose puck, raced clear and cracked an effort past Lyle.

The visitors tried to respond and Jordan Kelsall was denied by home keeper Michael Will, while neither Jonas Hoog nor Ben Nethersall could convert amid a flurry in front of the Flames goal.

Robin Kovar was the next Cats player to threaten but he was kept at bay by Will, while the visitors were grateful to Lyle for keeping the deficit at 1-0 at the end of the first period as he pulled off a big save to keep out Tuomas Santavuori.

A penalty for Stevie Whitfield just before the buzzer meant the Cats started period two a man light and they were made to pay as Duggan cracked an effort between the legs of Lyle to double the home side’s lead.

Kovar then darted clear, only to skew his shot wide, but from there it was all Guildford as Sam Godfrey, Ben Campbell and Jens Eriksson all went close to a third goal.

Ben Nethersall provided some brief respite for Swindon as he shot wide from distance but Flames soon took control again as Andrew McKinney and Jeremy Lundin were both thwarted by Lyle, while Michal Satek blazed wide on the angle.

The Cats enjoyed a brief rally before the buzzer as Malasinski sent in three efforts in quick succession during a sustained spell of pressure but none were able to beat Will in the home goal as Swindon remained two goals in arrears.

Malasinski’s persistence paid off less than a minute into the final period as he got the Cats on the board after checking in on the right before drilling a shot that Will could not handle.

There was no sign of a Guildford wobble after that, though, as Marek Maslonka blazed agonisingly wide before Erikssson was denied by Lyle.

The home side were able to restore their two-goal cushion with 10 minutes to play when Lundin flicked Campbell's pass beyond the reach of Lyle.

And the visitors’ hopes were killed off for good shortly afterwards when Campbell went from creator to scorer with the Flames’ fourth goal of the night.

Swindon battled gamely to get back into the contest, even pulling netminder Lyle for a prolonged spell in the closing stages, but it was to no avail as the hosts comfortably saw out their win.