AARON Nell fired home a late winner and Jonas Hoog hit a hat-trick to secure Swindon Wildcats’ sixth straight home win against MK Lightning last night.

But for most of the night it looked as if the Cats’ streak was going to come to an end, but Ryan Aldridge’s men battled back from 5-2 down to claim victory with less than a minute left on the Link Centre clock.

As well as scoring a dramatic late winner, Nell also scored his side’s second goal but was just delighted to keep their impressive run going.

“Our home form is very important to us and we are just pleased to keep this run going on,” he said.

“We are playing some superb hockey and that is great for our fans who have been very loyal for the past few years, and now we hope we will give them something to cheer about.

“The Link Centre was as loud as I have ever heard it tonight, and that is superb for us as the supporters make all the difference.

“If this game had been a few months ago we would probably have gone on to lose 8-2 or something like that, so to come back now and win shows how far we have come as a team, and how we are all putting that little bit extra in now.”

Nell is convinced the victory has secured Wildcats play in the end of season play-offs and also believes the rest of the sides will be looking to avoid Aldridge’s in-form side.

“I think we must be in after that win, but that is just the start as we need to secure seventh place,” he said.

“We want to avoid playing Guildford like the plague as we have struggled against them all season, so being seventh is very important.

“I have heard through the grape vine that there are a few teams trying to avoid playing us, and I think we will cause problems to whoever we play.”

Things started well as Michal Pinc chased down a loose puck before wrisiting it home to give Wildcats the early lead.

It quickly got better too, as Nell scored his first of the night with a low shot that went through a screen of players to make it 2-0.

Leigh Jamieson hit back for the visitors before doubling his tally with a neat shot from the left.

Tuomas Tikkanen and Lukas Zatopek gave MK a 4-2 advantage, and when Tikkanen made it 5-2 the game looked over.

But Wildcats refused to lie down, and Hoog hit his first to settle the nerves, before adding his second after heavy pressure.

His third came after some superb work around the net, before Nell struck late on to send the Link Centre wild.