DEAN Francis hammered a hat-trick as Oxford City Stars claimed local bragging rights with a thrilling 6-5 victory against Swindon Wildcats at the Link Centre in South Division A.

oThey did it the hard way, going 1-0 down before battling back for the win.

Boosted by the return of skipper Darren Elliott, but without Aidy Haigh and Alan Green, Stars started nervously, going a goal down in the first five minutes when Mike Smith slid the puck past netminder Will Skaife.

Oxford levelled soon after, with Kent Johnson firing in, before Francis gave Stars the lead after nutmegging the Swindon netminder Jamie Thompson.

Good work from Sam Broughton and former Swindon forward Grant Bailey set up Francis for his second.

And it got even better when Broughton made it 4-1, tipping in Nick Eden's thunderbolt from long range.

However, Stars then sat back, allowing Swindon, who included ex-Oxford players Scott Gough and Dan Prachar in their line-up, to reduce the deficit through Ryan Burgess and Jamie Newton.

Oxford then suffered a further blow when Andy Cox went off injured after being struck on the forearm by a Prachar slapshot.

Francis stretched Oxford's lead to 5-3 as he completed his treble against his hometown team, but then suffered a nasty head check from Armour, who escaped punishment.

To add salt to the wound, the Swindon captain fastened onto a mistake from Skaife before finishing well.

A moment of madness followed, which saw Swindon defenceman Adam Andrews sent to the sin-bin after reacting badly to a hit from youngster Joe Oliver.

As he made his way to the locker room, Andrews continued his rant at the referee before hurling a glove at the official, for which he received a five-minute penalty.

Eden then crashed home No 6 against his old club after Bailey slid the puck across the goal area to restore their two-goal advantage.

However, with just seven minutes left, Swindon pulled a goal back through Armour, but Oxford held on for victory.

Stars coach Darryl Morvan was delighted with the determination of his side.

"It was a difficult game where we never managed to get into our rhythm," said Morvan.

"The situation was not helped by losing Andy Cox early in the game.

"We seemed to go to sleep for a spell in the second period, and Swindon capitalised on it to claw back from being three goals down to just one goal in it.

"That said, we showed tremendous character to make sure that they didn't gain a point, and I think the result was a just one.

"We know we can't afford to have lapses like this, and Swindon are a strong side who have the potential to punish us for it."

Morvan added: "Consist- ency is an area we need to improve on and that's what we will be seeking to attain in the next few weeks."