SWINDON Wildcats’ play-off hopes took another hammer blow last night as they were convincingly beaten 6-2 at home to Slough Jets.

It was Cats’ second defeat of the weekend having gone down 4-3 in Basingstoke the night before.

Swindon started brightly until Slough took the lead against the run of play.

Aaron Nell and Joe Baird amongst others had gone close to giving the home side the lead but they were left to rue their missed chances.

Jets were shorthanded when they took the lead, Peter Jasik scoring with a finish expertly directed through the legs of Swindon netminder Geoff Woolhouse at 8.34.

The visitors then started to get a grip on the game and with 26 seconds remaining of the first period, Jasik’s persistence paid off as his cross was cracked into the roof of the net by Paddy Ward, to leave Cats trailing by two goals.

The game’s flashpoint came minutes into the second period when Ryan Watt arrived late on Woolhouse.

The usually-reserved netminder reacted angrily, headbutting the former Wildcat, who then retaliated with several punches of his own.

Both players were ordered off at 36.35, Watt for roughing and high sticks and Woolhouse for roughing and head-butting.

Shortly after Jasik continued to be a thorn in Swindon’s side as he notched up the visitors’ third goal.

Swindon’s best effort of the game saw Lee Richardson go close but his blast cruelly rebounded off the post.

At 31.58 Jamie Milton capitilised on Jan Krajicek’s uncharacteristic error to give the Jets a comfortable 4-0 advantage.

As Ryan Aldridge’s side tried to concentrate on damage limitation, the visitors made matters worse for the home side less than a minute after the restart, when Slava Koulikov netted for Jets.

Swindon were helped when Watt was ordered off the ice for five minutes after cross-checking Jozef Kohut.

And, on the powerplay that followed, Nell finally got Swindon on the scoresheet at 41.13 with the assist coming from Jason Cassells.

Swindon made the most of the powerplay as Cassells crashed home from range at 42.36 but it was too little too late.

With the Jets restored to full strength, they made it 6-2 when Peter Poljacek’s centred pass was easily tapped home by Dan Davies at 46.57.

l On Saturday night, a late rally was not enough for Swindon to prevent a 4-3 defeat at Basingstoke Bison.

The hosts dominated early on and took the lead in the first period through Nicky Chinn.

Ondrej Lauko struck in the second session with Wildcats short-handed, before the Slovakian snatched his second to make it 3-0.

Veteran Steve Moria converted another and Swindon were then indebted to Geoff Woolhouse for keeping the score down.

The visitors got off the mark on 44:41 when Sam Bullas beat Davey Lawrence.

Aaron Nell gave Swindon further hope before Matt Foord made overtime a real possibility with six minutes left.

Despite Woolhouse being hauled off in favour of an attacking player in the final minute, the Bison held out for maximum points

READ STEVE NELL'S COLUMN IN THURSDAY'S GAZETTE & HERALD