Murrayfield Racers win Robertson Cup as Martin Cingel decides to retire

Murrayfield Racers celebrate at their ice rink. Picture: Ian Coyle

Following on from Saturday’s first leg in Ayr, Racers took a 6-2 lead into last night’s return leg at Murrayfield, and romped to an 11-3 win.

Much of the damage was done in the opening period as Racers fired in six goals, including a hat-trick inside 14 minutes for captain Joel Gautschi. There was also two goals in the game for 43-year-old forward Martin Cingel, who announced he will retire from playing at the end of the season. Prior to joining Murrayfield, the Slovakian iced for 19 years in the professional ranks, 11 of which were for the now defunct Edinburgh  Capitals.

Racers, who won the league title last month, have enjoyed a hugely successful debut season in the SNL and will be hot favourites to make it a treble winning campaign when they play Dundee Comets in the Scottish Cup final next month.

Racers head-coach Tony Hand said: “The guys were brilliant in their effort and commitment. We played really, really well. We were solid, we competed well and built up an early lead which was a big help, and it was nice to see Martin score two goals in his last home match with us before he retires.

“We’ve done really well to win two trophies this season, and it was great to win this one in front of our home fans.”