AARON Nell says his Swindon Wildcats side must learn to be more ruthless after edging to a narrow 4-3 success at home to Telford Tigers in the NIHL Cup last night.

The Cats were grateful to Chris Jones’ strike in the dying stages at the Link Centre, with Nell’s troops having been unable to totally kill of the Tigers before that despite a strong performance.

Telford took the lead in the closing stages of the first period through Joe Miller, although parity was restored before the buzzer when Floyd Taylor hauled the Cats level.

Player-coach Nell got Swindon in front in the opening skirmishes of the second period but the scores were level once more when Warren Tait beat home stopper Renny Marr.

Phil Hill’s strike saw the home side head into the final period in front but little over 30 seconds had ticked by before parity was restored again courtesy of Rick Plant.

However, Swindon lifted themselves for one final rally and after a series of efforts had been batted away by Tigers keeper Denis Bell, Jones was eventually able to find a way through to snatch the win.

Although pleased to put another win on the board, Nell has urged his side to kill teams off more quickly in matches.

“We threw a lot at them in the third period. We had a sloppy start but we got a lot better and we penned them in and then we got a big goal at the end,” said Nell.

“I didn’t think we played that well at the start of the match and although we were a lot better in the second and third periods, it’s a case of getting that next goal.

“When it’s a one-goal game, one goal ties it back up, so when we are ahead in games, we need to learn to get the next goal.

“It’s been like that quite a bit this season. When we get in front, we need to go even harder. We need to be a bit more cut-throat.

“Obviously you still need to play responsibly but if you go two goals up, you feel a lot more comfortable.

“That’s something we have got to learn and if we do can do that, especially at home, we’re going to have a lot of success.”

The Cats earned their place in the semi-finals of the Autumn Trophy at the weekend and are now in strong position to book another last-four berth in the NIHL Cup.

Swindon will look to make it four victories from four in the competition when they host Bracknell Bees at the weekend and Nell is keen to his side to continue their charge.

“We are going well but there are still a few games left. We have had a great start and that’s all we could ask for,” said Nell.

“This is a big competition for us but it’s going to be a long slog. The best team will definitely win it and we want that to be us.”