SWINDON Panthers made the best possible start to their Summer Cup campaign with a big 12-4 home win against a strong Coventry Bruins side.

The Midlanders were boosted by a number of former ENL players and three Slovakian imports, and made use of their firepower early on as they took the lead inside the first minute.

But the Panthers were not disheartened by their bad start and quickly hit back as Neil Rouse jammed the puck under the Bruins netminder.

It soon got better for the home side as Bart Widawski struck, before Scott Gough added a third to give his side a dominant lead.

Widawski added his second of the match and a solo goal from Paul Wojack made it 5-1 at the end of the first period.

The second started quickly but soon became frustrating for the Panthers, as Ian Richards set up Gough to make it 6-1.

But the home side cut loose in the final session, and Rob Croucher got the ball rolling 41 seconds in, before a goal for Rob Jones and another from Wojack.

The game was all Swindon and two more goals from Widawski and Jones finished the scoring late on.