Bristol Pitbulls player-coach Richie Hargreaves admitted his team were left "gutted" by their 5-4 home defeat to Swindon Wildcats.

Hargreaves' fledgling side have now slipped further behind their M4 rivals in the race for promotion from English National Hockey League South Two.

Hargreaves said: "We are all gutted. We were 4-3 up with four minutes left and we lost to a goal with 47 seconds left.

"It was just a couple of mental lapses where our inexperience was the difference. We just didn't do what we had to do.

"But, overall, there are way more positives than negatives to come out of it. We get to play them three more times this season and they also have other tough games to come."

Hargreaves scored one of the goals himself and added two assists, as Adrian Esposito netted twice and Steven Osman got the Pitbulls' other goal.

Having played on Saturday evening at Bristol Ice Rink, the Pitbulls were due to play yesterday as well, but their cross-country trip to Chelmsford was postponed because of the inclement travelling conditions in the south-east.