PLAYER-COACH Aaron Nell says his Swindon Wildcats side will continue to chase the top two in NIHL South One as hard as possible after completing a first four-point weekend of 2018.

The Cats roared to a dominant 5-0 victory away at Milton Keynes Thunder on Sunday night, having edged to a narrow 5-4 overtime success at home to Bracknell Bees 24 hours earlier.

Swindon have won six of the eight fixtures they have played in all competitions since returning to action on December 23 after the two-week pre-Christmas break, although only four of those games have been in the league, which yielded six points for the Cats.

Peterborough Phantoms currently top the NIHL South One table on 32 points, level with second-placed Basingstoke Bison, with Swindon the best of the rest in third on 26 points.

Nell’s troops have at least one game in hand on both of the teams above them and all the Cats coach asks of his side is to keep the top two honest over the remainder of the campaign.

“We had a really good weekend and a four-point haul is great as it keeps us on the coattails of the teams above us,” said Nell.

“We are obviously still a few points behind the top two at the moment but we are happy with where we are at this stage of the season with a lot of games left to play.

“Of course, you always want to be sitting at the top but we will take where we are right now.

“We just have to mind our own business, keep picking up as many wins as we can and hopefully by the end of the season, we will be in there with a big shout.

“We have built up some good form since the break just before Christmas. This period back playing again was always going to go one of two ways and fortunately for us, it is positive at the moment. Now we need to keep on kicking on.”

Nell as particularly pleased with the performance of netminder Renny Marr against Milton Keynes on Sunday night as Swindon recorded just a second shut-out of the season.

“We were very happy with Sunday night’s performance, we played a really solid game,” said Nell.

“Milton Keynes are a team that work extremely hard and knew they would come out hard.

“Renny was great all night but especially for the first five to 10 minutes and after that we took control of the game and in the end were worthy winners.

“Renny has been brilliant all year. I have said it before but he has been our biggest positive this season and he is going to have to be big for us for the rest of the season if we are to achieve something and I am sure he will.”

THE Wildcats are launching a #CupMadness campaign, having secured their places in the knockout rounds of both the NIHL National Cup and the Autumn Trophy, with crucial matches in both coming up in the next week.

Swindon take on the Peterborough Phantoms on Thursday evening (7.45pm) looking to qualify for their first cup final since 2005.

In-between the Autumn Trophy semi-finals, they will be taking on the London Raiders in the National Cup quarter finals, at home next Saturday (6.15pm) and in London 24 hours later.

To mark the games, the Cats will build up the week by reliving some classic goals from the 1991 Autumn Trophy win against the Milton Keynes Kings on social media.

Tickets are available to buy for both home games, at swindonwildcats.com or the box office on 01793 886857.