THE BESPOKE Guardians Swindon Wildcats head coach Aaron Nell spoke of his delight in leading his team to a first final in three years on Wednesday night after an Autumn Cup semi-final victory over Telford Tigers.

Leading 6-3 from last week’s first leg at the Link Centre, the Wildcats travelled to Shropshire knowing the job was almost done already.

However, Nell’s side did not rest on their laurels and came out firing to lead 3-0 after the first period before going on to secure a 6-4 second-leg victory and make it 12-7 on aggregate.

And it was the hot start in both ties that Nell believes was the catalyst for a deserved passage through to the final.

The Wildcats head coach said: “I’m very happy with the team, they’ve really turned the corner over the last six to eight weeks and that was a big win for us.

“It was important to get through to a final – we haven’t done that in three or four years. I’m very happy with the team, they were excellent in both games, and we really did deserve to go through.

“The start to both games were excellent. We went two goals up in the first period of the first game, and then even though we were three goals ahead overall going into the second leg, we just talked about going to win the game.

“We scored after 30 seconds and ended the first period three up – at that point it’s tie over because we were six goals up on aggregate.”

The Wildcats’ achievement marks the first time since the Autumn Cup of 2018 that they have reached a final – a year where Nell helped his team win a title for the first time in 27 years.

With a date still yet to be set against Leeds Knights, Swindon’s player-coach is refusing to think too far ahead just yet but stated it was important for his team to fight for trophies throughout the season.

Nell said: “It’s hugely important and great for the club for us to do this. But mostly, I’m happy for the players and for the fans.

“It’s a great opportunity to win something, we’re only two games away to winning the first trophy post-Covid.

“I’m sure it will be two great games when they’re played, and we’re really looking forward to it.”