Adam Keefe hails players and fans after Challenge Cup win

The Giants found themselves two goals down in the second period as Jake Coughler and Cole Sanford seemingly put Cardiff in control.

But roared on by the majority of the 7,300 crowd packed into the SSE Arena Keefe's men staged a memorable comeback.

Tyler Soy and David Goodwin tied things up at the start of the third period before Ben Lake secured the first silverware of the season scoring from close range in the fifth minute of overtime.

The win means Keefe now becomes the Giants most successful coach but he was quick to praise the fans and the players for the way they responded after falling behind.

"I said (to the players) we have 7,000 people here to watch us play and we want a reason to get them on their feet," he told Premier Sports.

"Once we dropped the puck I thought the guys were great right from the start.

"It was only a matter of time. When we got that first one the building erupted and we rode that wave.

"It was huge (the fans' backing).

"You could feel the vibrations on the bench.

"Once we got the goal we still had to remind the guys that they had to defend well.

"I thought we rode those emotions great. I think we allowed five shots in the third period and I don't think any in overtime.

"The guys were great."

There is still plenty to play for with the Giants in the running to complete the treble of the league title and play-offs.

Keefe talked of the importance of bringing trophies to Belfast.

"It's very important that we bring trophies to this city," he said.

"When we bring these guys in at the start of the year we set those standards from the start of the season.

"The players want to come here because they want to win.

"They don't come here if they just want to finish in the middle of the pack...they want to win trophies.

"I'm super happy for them because they've been committed from the start, they've bought in, they're a great group of players.

"If you bring good people, good things happen."