SWINDON Wildcats returned to winning ways at home this evening by comfortably seeing off crisis club Manchester Phoenix at the Link Centre.

Aaron Nell’s side, who were bested by the Peterborough Phantoms in their last outing on home ice, claimed maximum points to secure their sixth victory in eight matches.

The Phoenix, whose long-term future remains shrouded in uncertainty after owner Neil Morris walked away from the club earlier this month, rocked up in Wiltshire sporting an unfamiliar roster and as a result, the hosts carried the greater threat earlier on.

Cats included a number of youngsters in their own line-up however, and Jordan Kelsall, Adam Finlinson and Michael Power all drew saves from visiting netminder Stephen Fone.

Swindon’s biggest chances continued to come courtesy of their up-and-coming troops, with Kelsall continuing to keep Fone honest, but with just over five minutes of the first period to go, the breakthrough came courtesy of a Cats man with a few more miles on the clock.

Jonas Hoog slid forward with intent and then took matters into his own hands, cracking a stunning long-range drive past Manchester goalie Fone to open the scoring.

That opening goal from Hoog, who welcomed son Rio into the world in midweek, sparked the Wildcats’ second annual teddy bear toss, with fans throwing stuffed animals onto the ice to be donated to deserving children in foster care through Swindon Borough Council.

Nell’s men would only have a 1-0 lead to show for their efforts when the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the opening period.

In the opening throes of the second, Cats had to defend a five-on-three situation after accruing two penalties in quick succession but they held firm and even saw Max Birbraer sting the pads of Fone with a powerful effort on the turn.

Shortly afterwards, Stevie Whitfield picked out Finlinson in acres of space but the youngster couldn’t round Fone, the Phoenix goalie making a fine one-on-one save to keep his team within touching distance.

Fone also denied Tomasz Malasinski and Taylor as Cats kept banging on the door but they struggled to find a second goal and almost inevitably, Manchester did manage to carve out an opportunity to score when Taylor Wootton fired goalwards on the rebound but Lyle pulled off a crucial save to maintain his team’s advantage.

Swindon would go on to punish their visitors for failing to capitalise on their big opportunity, with the floodgates seemingly opening as Michael Stratford, who played for the Phoenix earlier this season, and Phil Hill both notching in less than a minute to make it 3-0.

That wasn’t to say that Lyle didn’t continue to play his part, the Cats netminder standing up well to deny the unmarked Gareth O’Flaherty shortly after Hill had found the net.

In the fourth, Lyle was at it again as he kept out the visitors’ Scott Bailey and the Swindon goalie immediately set his team on the way to their fourth, opening up Manchester and allowing Hill to tee up Birbraer to slot home with ease.

The hosts’ fifth came courtesy of teenager Finlinson, who was in the right place at the right time to turn home Hoog’s drive.

Back-up netminder Michael Crisp was given a run-out with just under nine minutes to go but he was only really called into action once as Cats closed the game out.