SWINDON Wildcats emerged 6-4 winners after a feisty National Ice Hockey League fixture against Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday night.

In a game that featured 18 penalties across both benches, it was two late decisions by the officials that led to Swindon coming out on the right side of a tense game of hockey.

With the score at 4-4, the visitors saw Jarvis Hunt receive two minutes for diving before Callum Buglass joined his teammate in the box for a tripping call.

Edgars Bebris and Toms Rutkis did the damage late on – with Rutkis netting his second of the match – adding to a brace from player-coach Aaron Nell as well as a solitary strike from Tyler VanKleef.

And with 12 penalties being handed out against home skaters, Nell was understandably frustrated in the locker room afterwards.

Especially given one of a handful of Defencemen, Neil Liddiard, will miss tomorrow night’s crunch game away at Telford Tigers due to fighting in the final minute of Saturday’s tie.

Nell said: “It was a different kind of game – it felt like it took forever, but I’m very happy we won.

“I’m just glad to get out of there with two points because it was probably the first game of the season where I’ve been really frustrated with the officiating.

“But at the same time, I think we got a bit lucky with a call at the end that gave us a chance to win it during the powerplay.

“It normally all works out in the wash and I think it did on this occasion.”

After blasting Peterborough at home 5-0 earlier in the season, the Wildcats went down 6-3 at Planet Ice in mid-November.

Nell revealed he was upset with his team’s lack of intensity in that defeat – a word he repeated to the squad in the build up to Saturday’s win and in the post-match interview following a combative performance.

He said: “We felt in the last two times we’d played Peterborough, we hadn’t played intense enough, but I thought we did that on Saturday.

“There were a few times where we weren’t very smart, but we knew we had to play with intensity if we were going to come out on the right side of it.

“We got a bit unlucky on a few of the penalties, but we played with the right kind of intensity for the most part, and that was what I wanted.”

The Wildcats travel to league leaders Telford Tigers on Sunday evening (6pm face off) knowing a victory in regular time will send them back to the top of the league.