SWINDON Wildcats’ player-coach Aaron Nell was left with mixed emotions after his troops recorded a 5-4 overtime win at the Link Centre.

A dominant first period saw a marked improvement on when the last time the two teams met, which saw the Cats trail 2-0 on New Year’s Day.

Five days later, it was the Cats who would hold a two-goal advantage at the end of the first instalment as Nell kept up his good form with an early goal, before Luc Johnson converted a penalty shot in the eighth minute.

Nell admits he was disappointed to see side surrender their two-goal cushion, as Renny Marr was unable to contain James Galazzi’s shot.

“I had mixed feelings, it was important we got the win and we made a great start to the hockey game,” he said.

“You have to give Bracknell credit. From minute 10 to 50, they were the better team and we just weren’t good enough there.

“We were disappointed we gave up a 3-1 lead, but at the end of the day we won and it was an entertaining game.”

The third period saw the Cats come out on the front foot, and due to the remaining power-play, they made the most of their opportunity as Jordan Kelsall re-established their two-goal cushion 31 seconds after the restart.

Shortly after his goal, he became the second home player to be handed a two-minute penalty, alongside Sam Godfrey, and the hosts paid the price as Callum Best notched Bracknell’s second.

Two then became three for the Bees as they stung the hosts for the second time in quick succession, this time it was Frantisek Bakrlik who scored, to level proceedings.

After Kelsall and Godfrey returned to the ice, Bebris became the latest home player to go into the bin, which allowed Danny Ingoldsby to take advantage and complete the comeback for Bracknell who led 4-3.

However, with just under two minutes left on the clock, the Cats fought back to claim their fourth as Kelsall snatched his second of the game to send the clash into overtime.

The final five minutes got off to a nervy start, before Bebris popped up with the winner two minutes from time.

Next up is a trip to Milton Keynes Lightening for the Wildcats, as they look to their recent form with a second win of the weekend.

Despite their recent form, the Wildcats chief says he is under no illusions that tomorrow’s clash will be a real test for his side.

“Tomorrow is a huge game. Every league game now is massive and we are a little bit behind Basingstoke and Peterborough, but we want to stay in touch,” he added.

“We have some big games coming up and we haven’t played Milton Keynes since the first weekend of the year, we got lucky in that game.

“It’ll be a good benchmark, we have had a lot of change but we are feeling good right now and we never quit.”