SWINDON Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell hopes Saturday night’s shock 4-1 home defeat by Streatham in NIHL South One will serve as a wake-up call to his roster, who suffered their first home defeat in all competitions this season.

Powerplay goals in periods one and three in addition to markers from Jacob Ranson and Alex Roberts proved Wildcats’ undoing as the hosts’ seven-game unbeaten home run came to an abrupt end.

Usual home service appeared to be resumed in the early stages of Saturday’s contest as a netminding error by Streatham stopper Damien King gifted Stevie Whitfield a fortuitous goal in the opening two minutes of the game.

Ill-discipline cost the Wildcats for the remainder of the game as Aaron Nell and Chris Jones penalties for hooking and high sticks respectively slipped the game out of Wildcats’ grasp.

Nell said: “It was a frustrating night, but we must give Streatham credit. They were good and they worked hard.

“We weren’t skating hard enough and didn’t deserve to win.

“We changed a couple of things, we tried to use the whole bench and play with more speed while being direct – it just didn’t work.

“We were flat and didn’t have enough shots in the key areas, the way they setup played right into their hands.

“Streatham protected the middle of the ice and the front of the net, an area we didn’t work hard enough in.”

Streatham netminder King was praised by Nell in the aftermath of Wildcats’ first home defeat.

But at the same time, the player-coach was left disappointed by the lack of opportunities created by his men – something which he will be keen to address ahead of this weekend’s fixtures against MK Thunder and Raiders.

“The goalie (King) played well, you have to give him credit,” said Nell.

“He could’ve easily struggled after letting the first goal in, but they all re-grouped.

“We didn’t test Streatham enough though, and it’s very disappointing.

“Hopefully this result will act as a wake-up call for us. There were a few soft calls and bad ones on our side.

“We have a good team, but we weren’t good enough tonight and we need to learn from it.”