SWINDON Wildcats mounted a brave comeback to keep themselves in with a chance of making the English Premier League play-off weekend following a narrow defeat in the first leg of their quarter-final against Peterborough Phantoms this evening.

Cats were outclassed in the opening half-hour of a heated affair at the Link Centre and Ryan Aldridge’s side found themselves four goals in arrears.

However, captain Jan Kostal kick-started the comeback when he got Cats on the scoreboard late in the second period and further goals from Jonas Hoog and Tomas Kana in the third ensured it is still all to play for in the second leg at Planet Ice tomorrow.

The tension was palpable ahead of the game and that boiled over for Cats import Kana, with the Czech knocking over an opponent just before face-off and being forced to start the match in the penalty box.

Swindon were made to pay for his indiscretion as the visitors took the lead with less than a minute on the clock as Milan Baranyk drilled the puck home during a goalmouth scramble.

A blood and thunder affair followed with big hits aplenty and Kana was sent back to the penalty box for the second time in the first five minutes but once he returned to the ice in a calm state, Cats’ play seemed to settle as well.

Hoog thought he was in one-on-one with Phantoms stopper Janis Auzins, only to be denied by some last-ditch defence, and Kana then lashed just over the top.

Home netminder Stevie Lyle was then called into action to deny both Baranyk and Darius Pliskauskas, while Loris Taylor had the puck in the net at the other end, only to be denied a score by the officials.

However, Cats were caught napping in the closing stages of the first period and Peterborough were able to double their lead as Donotas Kumeliauskas tucked home at the back post.

Swindon started the second period with a powerplay following a penalty against James Ferrara but they were unable to take advantage, and Cats were a man up again when Will Weldon was ejected for an illegal hit on Callum Buglass.

The home side dominated for a lengthy spell but could just not find a way past the resolute Phantoms defence and were then hit with a sucker punch as the visitors broke quickly and Lyle was unable to hold Tom Norton’s powerful effort.

Everything Cats tried did not quite come off and Phantoms were just too slick on the day and got a fourth goal when Pliskauskas squeezed a shot past Lyle and in from a tight angle.

Cats finally gave themselves a lifeline with less than three minutes of the second period to play, getting on the scoreboard as captain Kostal lashed in after powering up the middle.

The strike galvanised Swindon and they went on the offensive at the start of the third period but Hoog and Alex Symonds were both denied by the excellent Auzins.

Cats’ persistence finally began to pay off with two goals in little over 30 seconds. First, Hoog tucked home with the reverse stick and then Kana let fly with a superb strike which gave Auzins no chance.

Tomasz Malasinksi had a big chance to restore parity with two minutes left but he fired over the top after being set free by Hoog and the clock ran out on Cats before they could find an equaliser.