AARON Nell was left to reflect on a missed opportunity for his Swindon Wildcats side as they had to settle for three points from four over the opening weekend of the new NIHL South season.

Swindon looked on course to begin the campaign with back-to-back wins when they led 2-1 late in the third period away at Invicta Dynamos on Sunday, only for the hosts to level the scores before snatching the victory in overtime.

The Cats at least had the consolation of a losing point to go alongside the two they gained 24 hours earlier as a result of beating Milton Keynes Thunder on penalties after the campaign curtain-raiser ended in a 3-3 draw at the Link Centre.

After dominating for long periods against Invicta at Silver Blades in Gillingham, player-coach Nell had a twinge of frustration that Swindon were unable to start the season in perfect fashion.

“Sunday night is one we want back. You have to give Invicta credit, they played extremely hard and were able to get the win at the end,” said Nell.

“Overtime is always a bit of a lottery and we just need to learn from that and when we are ahead in games, we need to get the next goal and put it out of reach.

“We put ourselves in a good spot to win but we needed that next goal. At 2-1, we had a couple of chances in the third period that we didn’t put away and we have got to learn to do that.

“Three points from the first weekend is a solid start. We would obviously have liked to have got all four but we have just got to move on now.”

Nell concedes that his roster are still going through a bedding in process, with six of the 19-man roster new to the club over the summer.

However, one newcomer who particularly caught the eye over the opening weekend was D-man Sam Zajac, who hit the back of the net in both fixtures.

“Sam has settled right in. He is a great player and is exactly what we expected,” said Nell.

“He has been leading our team and people need to follow that and see how he plays. He plays the same every night and that’s what we need.

“We got out-worked both nights and that can’t happen but we are not far away.

“There is a lot improve on and we just need to be a lot more consistent and be a lot tougher to play against and that’s down to work-ethic and doing the tough things that aren’t easy.”

The Wildcats take a break from their league programme this coming weekend as they turn their attentions to the NIHL Cup.

They host Basingstoke Bison on Saturday night before travelling to take on Telford Tigers the following day.