AARON NELL’S hat-trick was the highlight of a lacklustre display which saw the Swindon Wildcats comfortably beat struggling Bracknell Bees.

In a contest that never got going, Nell gave his side an early lead on the powerplay but that was soon cancelled out by Bracknell’s Lukas Smital.

Nell showed why he was so quickly snapped up for next season on the 12-minute mark when he fired an exquisite slapshot past the motionless Alex Mettam in the Bees goal.

ice hockey The 25-year-old forward then turned provider as he set up Swedish import Jonas Hoog to double the home side’s lead.

Swindon took a big step towards victory when Tomas Kana scored the team’s fourth.

The much-hyped Czech forward is starting to settle into his role at Swindon and is providing more entertainment week on week.

Desperate to give his side some energy in the final period, Bracknell’s James Galazzi invited Sam Bullas to a fight on the centre of the ice, which the latter accepted. An entertaining clash ended with Galazzi just shading it.

With a solid defensive performance in the third period, Swindon never looked in danger of losing the game.

Nell capped his personal display to bag a hat-trick and make it 5-1.

This weekend will go a long way to deciding who Swindon will take on in the quarter finals of the play-offs.

They travel to Guildford and Basingstoke, both of whom sit above them in the table in second and third place respectively.

There is only a slim chance of the Cats finishing with a higher points tally than Guildford. To finish above third-placed Basingstoke is more achievable.

Sealing third place would probably secure a tie with Manchester in the knockout stages.

Stevie Whitfield last week became the second Swindon Wildcats player, after Aaron Nell, to sign on for next season.