SWINDON Wildcats were haunted by a nightmare final period as they were hit for six by the Peterborough Phantoms this evening.

The two sides had looked evenly matched for much of the contest at Planet Ice, with reigning English Premier League play-off champions Peterborough holding a slender 2-1 advantage going into the final period.

But from there the wheels fell off for Stevie Lyle’s side as the Phantoms netted four times in six minutes to leave the visitors well and truly spooked.

The contest got off to a cagey opening and neither netminder was forced to face any real danger early on, with Jordan Hedley easily denying Peterborough’s Craig Scott and Aaron Nell blasting wide at the other end.

However, it was the hosts who began to settle first and they took the lead when Will Weldon converted Edgars Bebris’ cross from close in.

Scott should have made it 2-0 to the Phantoms when he blazed wide at the back post before Hedley then did really well to smother a strike from Marc Levers.

The Cats had been on the back foot for a while but hauled themselves level against the run of play when Sami Ryhanen found the net with a powerful drive.

They did not hold the momentum for long, though, and Peterborough finished the period strongly, with Hedley plucking a shot from Ales Padelek out of the air as the buzzer sounded with the scores level.

The Cats looked energised at the start of period two and a mazy Tomasz Malasinski run ended with him being denied by home stopper Janis Auzins.

Hedley then kept out Bebris at the other end but it was not long before the Phantoms did get their noses in front again.

Ryhanen could not convert at the back post after a probing Cats attack and the hosts broke quickly and Milan Baranyk fired past Hedley to restore their lead.

Auzins then had to be at his best to keep out Nell and Malasinski in quick succession as Swindon finished the period the stronger of the sides.

Darius Pliskauskas did bring one smart stop out of Hedley but the Cats were left scratching their heads as to how they did not get into the locker room level as neither Nell or Adam Harding could squeeze the puck over the line in a goalmouth scramble.

Nell had a glorious chance to level things up early in the final period but he could not get his shot on target when free at the back post.

McEwen then went in one-on-one with Auzins but there was no way past the Phantoms keeper and the Cats were made to pay for those misses as the home side netted four times in quick succession to put the game to bed.

After a good spell, Swindon were hit by a sucker-punch as Padelek made it 3-1 and that kicked off a rotten spell as Baranyk got his second of the night before Pliskauskas and Bebris both got in on the action to make the scoreline a rout.