THE Bespoke Guardians Swindon Wildcats suffered yet another setback in their National Ice Hockey League title quest following a fourth successive weekend without four points.

Aaron Nell's men took just two points following an important win on home ice against the Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday night, before a disappointing road defeat in London on Sunday against the Raiders.

On Saturday, the Wildcats were first to draw blood when, at 08:37, Nell found room in front of the net to open the scoring. Despite out-shooting the Phantoms 13-6, Swindon were only able to put one goal past Ryan Bainborough in the Peterborough net.

In the middle period, Swindon put their foot on the gas and at exactly 22:00 they doubled their advantage. With a delayed penalty coming, Eddie Bebris battled hard on the boards and slid the puck to Chris Jones who was able to find room in the bottom left hand side of the goal to make it 2-0. Two-minutes later, the lead was extended to three.

Right as a penalty on Petr Stepanek was finishing, Tomasz Malasinski found space to fire past Bainborough to make it 3-0 at 24:00. The Wildcats continued to press and score what would be their final goal of the evening at 27:07 when Balint Pakozdi fired home thanks to a set-up from Emil Svec.

Heading into the final period, the Wildcats held a commanding 4-0 lead but would be reminded how strong the Phantoms could be by an attempted comeback.

At 47:00 Alex Padelek was in space on the left wing and had enough time to pick his spot past Renny Marr and make it 4-1.

In the final moments there was just enough time for one final consolation goal when at 58:33 with a 6-on-4 advantage Nathan Salem bundled the puck home for the visitors, but it was another case of too little too late as the Wildcats ran out 4-2 winners on home ice.

Swindon's attempts to notch a four-point weekend for the first time since mid-January began badly after the hosts opened the scoring at 03:27 through Jacob Ranson.

At 07:48 the Cats levelled up through an unfamiliar name on the scoresheet, Scottish defender Tyler Plews. The Kirkcaldy native had room from the point to fire under the arm of Raiders netminder Michael Gray.

In a hectic few minutes near the end of the first, the Wildcats raced into a 1-3 lead through a goal from Tomasz Malasinski at 12:38 before Emil Svec added a third at 13:31.

That lead quickly disappeared in the middle period as the Raiders evened the game up before the 30-minute mark. Firstly, at 24:40 a lovely set-up play from Lukas Sladkovsky saw Jake Sylvester fire the puck past Dean Skinns to make it 2-3. The game was then tied at 24:40 when Callum Wells fired a rocket past Skinns from the point at 26:10.

With the period dying down, after more pressure from the Raiders, Erik Piatak added his side's go-ahead goal at 36:54.

Coming out in the third period a goal down, the Wildcats knew they had to chase the game in order to snatch a result.

But the equalising goal proved elusive, and the Raiders put the game to bed at 55:28 when a poor defensive pass allowed Brandon Ayliffe to shoot off the crossbar before the puck fell straight to Aaron Connolly who slammed the puck home for a 5-3 lead.

With Skinns pulled from the goal, Erik Piatak broke down the left wing and fired into the empty net to seal the win for the Raiders and ensuring the Wildcats only picked up 2 points over the weekend.

This week attention turns to the National Cup Semi-Final against the Sheffield Steeldogs before a crucial game with the MK Lightning on Sunday.