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The Wildcats Column: Fans Must Make The Link A Fortress
It may be the same EPL campaign, but 2016 brings a new year for Swindon Wildcats. With upcoming fixtures pitting the Cats against the majority of sides below them in the league, Total Sport columnist Ben Callaghan calls for the fans to do their bit to assist in the highest ever Swindon finish.
After a couple of weeks on the Christmas break I'd firstly like to wish everyone a very happy new year. Things have been up and down for the Wildcats over the Christmas break.
Some good victories and some below par performances have left us in the middle of the EPL table as we begin 2016.
The games against Basingstoke and Bracknell were frustrating to watch at times, with the Wildcats' respective game plans not coming off as coach Nell would have liked and yet, despite losing 3-0 to Basingstoke, the Cats did bounce back with victory against the Bees on the Monday between Christmas and New Year.
It was far from a polished performance but the key was the win and that's we got, we can't be perfect for 54 games a year, it just doesn't work like that.
Last weekend saw us get a three point weekend which were some of our best performances since before the Christmas break. Sheffield have been on fire through November and December, they'd arguably been the in-form side in the league and to shut them out 3-0 was very impressive.
The defence in particular were incredibly solid and it was great to see Carlo Finucci back on the ice again after missing a month through injury. Guildford on Sunday was a great, spirited performance.
The guys were struggling and went into a 3-0 lead, but to fight back and tie the game was a tremendous effort.
The overtime period had its frustrations but Matic Kralj scored a lovely winner for the Flames and Swindon can be thrilled with coming away from the rink knowing they had at least some success with a point.
The coming fixtures in January are a massive set for Swindon with the majority against teams below them in the table. These are the games we must be winning, if we want to finish higher than any other Swindon side has ever done then we have to win these games.
We also need to make the Link Centre a fortress and that starts with us, the fans. We need to all be as supportive and as loud as we've ever been before.
The drums need to be hit, the fans need to sing and the players will feed off that better than anything else. The Wildcats are a team, but the fan base is massive part of that team, every person in the rink needs to show their support and the players will follow suit.
I challenge you all, Let's get the Link Centre rocking as much as it was in years gone by.
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