Swindon ready to cause another upset

SWINDON, UK- The Swindon Wildcats are hoping to repeat last season’s heroics as the English Premier League playoffs kick-off this weekend. The Wiltshire club face the daunting prospect of a quarter-final clash with the Guildford Flames who are unbeaten in thirteen games. Wildcats coach Ryan Aldridge said: “Guildford are a great team. With the players and budget that they have we know it’s always going to be a tough game, but if we keep to our system we might be in with a chance.” Last week, the Flames narrowly missed out on the Premier League title as the Manchester Phoenix stormed to a 5-2 victory, ironically against Swindon. Despite Guildford’s good form, they are not unbeatable. On New Year’s Day, the Wildcats came away from the Guildford Spectrum with a 3-2 victory. Aldridge is hoping his side can repeat this feat and book a trip to Coventry for the final four of the EPL. “We know we are going into the weekend as underdogs – with all the pressure on Guildford. We will approach both games this weekend ready to play and will throw everything we have at them” added Aldridge.

The Wildcats are no stranger to playoff upsets. Last season they dumped the English Premier League champions, the MK Lightning out of the competition at this stage with a thrilling 7-5 win in the second leg. “It’s a completely different set of games but we showed we could beat probably the best team in the league last year. Guildford are arguably the best team in the league this year so we will have to be at our best.” Guildford are clear favourites having already beaten the Cats five times this season, the latest a 6-1 thumping a fortnight ago. The Flames are fully focused on winning the playoffs, having put last weekend’s disappointment behind them. Guildford boss Paul Dixon said: “We have a lot to be proud of and a lot to look forward to with the play-offs, so hopefully this will all be motivation to dig in now and bring home the only trophy we have not yet captured since we joined this league.” The first leg of the quarter final takes place on Saturday at The Lair in Swindon with the second leg on Sunday at The Guildford Spectrum. Contact the author david.bol@prohockeynews.com