SWINDON Wildcats returned to Wiltshire with the treasure after earning a hard-fought overtime victory away at Hull Pirates this evening.

After back-to-back defeats in the English Premier League the Cats did not need to be at their swashbuckling best against the Pirates and it was a case of any win will do.

And that is exactly how things panned out at the Hull Arena as Stevie Lyle’s side were pushed right to the wire before Tomasz Malasinski snatched them the victory in overtime.

Following a goalless first three-quarters of an hour the game burst into life when Lee Bonner broke the deadlock for the home side but the Cats hit straight back through Aaron Nell before Malasinski netted what seemed the winner.

However, Sam Towner then hauled the home side level with just 11 seconds left on the clock to send the contest into an additional five minutes but Swindon regrouped and kept their cool, with Malasinski emerging as the hero with his second goal.

Cats player/coach Lyle opted to leave himself on the bench for the contest and handed Jordan Hedley a start, and he was required to make the first save of the evening to keep out Dominic Osman.

The visitors then piled the pressure on at the other end and Nell lashed wide, while home stopper Jon Baston denied both Matt Selby and Owen Griffiths.

Hedley then pulled off a super stop to thwart Warren Tait, while Jonathan Kirk fired straight into the midriff of the Cats netminder.

It was then body-on-the-line stuff from Baston as he prevented the charging Corey McEwen from breaking the deadlock, while Michael Stratford was just unable to squeeze the puck past the Hull keeper at his near post as the period ended goalless.

Malasinski went close for the Cats in the opening exchanges of the second period but Baston was at full-stretch to keep him out, but all the pressure then came on Hedley’s goal.

Firstly, Jordan Fisher shot straight at the Cats netminder, who then made two excellent stops to keep Tait and Mario Mjelleli at bay.

Tait then lashed wide with the goal gaping as Pirates worked an excellent opening, while Malasinski and Sami Ryhanen both tried their luck at the other end.

It then looked certain that Hull would break the deadlock in the dying embers of period two as Towner raced in one-on-one with Hedley but the visitors somehow survived and the buzzer again sounded with things all-square.

Nell drove an effort into the body of Baston as the third and final period got under way, while Josh Gent blazed over the top at the other end.

The fans waited three-quarters of an hour for a goal but were then treated to three in the space of three minutes as the contest suddenly exploded.

Bonner broke the deadlock for Hull, tucking home after a goalmouth scramble but the Cats hit straight back as Nell found the net from close range.

Swindon then capitalised on the sin-binning of Tait to take the lead, biding their time to work an opening before Malasinski eventually converted Ryhanen's pass.

Hull pulled netminder Baston in the dying stages in an effort to get back into the match and it paid off in dramatic fashion as they hauled themselves level with just 11 seconds to go as Towner scambled the ball over the line.

However, the Cats refused to be beaten and Malasinski snatched them the win with his second goal of the night, rifling past Baston after excellent work from McEwan had carved out the opening 90 seconds into overtime.