Swindon Wildcats coach rues wasted chances (From Swindon Advertiser)

Swindon Wildcats coach rues wasted chances

6:00am Monday 23rd January 2012 in Ice Hockey By Andrew Warren

SWINDON Wildcats let a two-goal lead slip as they went down 5-3 at home Basingstoke Bison at the Link Centre.

The visitors had taken the lead through a Chris Wiggins strike, but Cats stormed back to lead 2-1 at the end of the first period after goals from Jonas Hoog and Sam Bullas.

They quickly stretched their advantage through Jaroslav Cesky in the second, but were soon pegged back as goals from Marcel Petran and Tony Redmond made it three apiece.

Steve Moria gave Bison the lead for the first time in the third period, and the comeback was completed in the closing minutes when Viktor Kubenko capitalised on a loose puck and finished with a five hole shot to seal the win.

Wildcats head coach Ryan Aldridge was happy with his side’s display, but was left cursing their inability to convert enough of their numerous chances.

“(Jaroslav) Cesky has scored some brilliant goals so for us this season, but couldn’t put it in the net enough in this game,” he said. “He has a few one on ones but couldn’t score, and a few other players missed some chances too.

“We played well and it was a very good game to watch, but we wanted to win. They took their chances better than we did and I think that was the real difference.

“We would like to think this game was a one off and that we could bounce back quickly from it, it is just one of those things and we will move on.”

The defeat to the team immediately above them in the English Premier League table sees Wildcats remain in seventh place, but Aldridge is convinced there is still time to move up the standings before the start of the end of season play-offs.

“We are still looking to catch some of the teams above us, and there are still plenty of games to go,” he said.

“The league has improved a lot this year, but we know the team we have is capable of achieving a lot more than we have managed so far.

“Some results have not gone our way, but we have some very winnable games to play and we will be looking to move up the table.”