Tony Hand hails his gallant Murrayfield Racers after stunning Cup Final win

Racers netminder Mark McGill makes a save in the first leg

Murrayfield Racers won the National Ice Hockey League North Cup in dramatic fashion, with a 7-6 aggregate overtime victory against highly fancied Whitley Warriors in the north east of England last night.

Callum Boyd, playing with an injured finger and a full cage helmet after taking a puck to the chin in Saturday’s 4-2 first leg win at Murrayfield, scored the overtime winner, typifying the heart and battle that went into Racers’ performance over two thrilling games of ice hockey.

A delighted Racers director of hockey Tony Hand said: “We knew this was going to be a tough series and we were the underdogs. Whitley came so hard at us in the third period tonight and the heart, in fact everything about the boy’s performance was first class.

“I’ve had this team for two years now and their desire to win, even when their backs are against the wall is

unbelievable.

“I want to thank the fans for their support over the weekend. It’s so good for these kids, something like 3,000 people watched their games this weekend and it just shows there is a desire to watch grass-roots hockey, people love it.”

The small ice pad, low roof, and compact seating at Whitley Bay Ice Rink helped to ensure the great atmosphere that had been set in Saturday’s first leg at Murrayfield continued, Racers’ goals coming from Boyd, Marty Simpson and two for man-of-the-match Garry Simpson.

Whitley in their own rink are a different proposition and Racers were under the cosh as Warriors took their physical style of play to the visitors. Despite four power-play opportunities Murrayfield struggled to create quality scoring chances and Whitley took a deserved 1-0 lead into the first period break, Harry Harley with the goal in the tenth minute.

Murrayfield netminder Mark McGill was still the busier of the two keepers and Racers looked like a frustrated outfit when they failed to capitalise on 90 seconds of a five-on-three power-play as Whitley’s penalty count continued to

rise.

Warriors looked to turn the screw in the 32nd minute after Racers’ Alex Christian was called for holding but, instead, Boyd reacted fastest to a shot fired off the Racers end board, picking up the puck in the neutral zone and going all alone on Warriors net-minder Lawson. He made no

mistake with the finish.

Racers picked up two further penalties before the end of the period and continued to look dangerous playing a man light with Boyd, Ethan Reid and Joel Gautschi all going close.

Whitley got off to the perfect start in the third period, going 2-1 ahead on the night after just 43 seconds through Ben Campbell, Dean Holland made it 3-1 on the night and 5-5 on aggregate at 45 minutes and 41 seconds.

With under four minutes to play a Michael Ireland bullet put Racers back in front in the tie, but with just 66 seconds remaining, Holland, with his second of the game, made it 6-6 on aggregate, forcing overtime and Boyd’s eventual winner.

Racers man-of the-match, net-minder Mark McGill was asked to share his thoughts and he said: “I don’t know what to think, somebody hand me a beer.

“I think we coped really well, we knew it was going to be a completely different game in their small rink. Whitley are such a good team and

so hard to play against.

“There are a lot of guys sore right now, Boydy played with a bust finger and needed stitched last night, but that’s what you need to do. We can all hurt tomorrow.”