SWINDON Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell admitted his side ‘got lucky’ in their 4-3 victory over Leeds Chiefs at the Link Centre.

The Cats needed a late winner from their captain to rescue the points against a Leeds outfit who are still making tentative steps in the National League.

And that winner could arguably have been chalked off for a high stick earlier in the move, according to the boss, but Nell felt his side deserved their luck and praised his players for fighting through a largely underwhelming performance to claim their second four-point weekend in a row following victory over Sheffield Steeldogs on Friday night.

He said: I don’t think it was our best game tonight, I believe we got lucky in the end, but it’s a big two points.

“Every time you get a four-point weekend in this league, it’s massive, so I’m very happy with the team.”

In a tepid first period at the Link Centre, Tomasz Malasinski squeezed a puck home from a tight angle to give the home side the lead.

Toms Rutkis – fresh from a short period at parent club Cardiff Devils – made it two shortly into the second period, only for Leeds to rally and tie proceedings.

Sam Jones then nudged the hosts back in front before Leeds equalised with 15 minutes remaining.

And with six minutes to play, then came the winner that caused so much frustration and disbelief from the Chiefs players.

Following a debatable high stick close to their own goal that caused a blood injury to a Chief, Swindon went up the other end and pounced on a mistake by the Leeds netminder to claim two more points.

Nell admitted the goal might not have stood on another day, but sang the praises of a competitive Leeds side that pushed his team all the way.

He said: “They worked very hard and they’ve got a good goalie. Their top import is very good, and they pulled it back on us.

“They started being a bit more physical in the second period and we struggled there. They got two big goals, but in the end, we got lucky with our winner.

“I think we created that luck for ourselves though because we out-shot them 14-6 in the first period and we blocked eight shots.

“The desire is there and the work rate is there, and when you do that, you get that reward.

“That’s what we got tonight, and we’ll always take it.”