Petr Cech: I will always treasure special memory of making Belfast Giants debut

The Giants were able to break a four-game losing run with Kohei Sato’s brace and further strikes from Quinn Preston, Ara Nazarian and Mark Cooper securing a crucial two points, but Cech’s emergence from the bench late on to replace Tyler Beskorowany was the main talking point.

Cech, who won four Premier League titles and also lifted the Champions League during a glittering football career, was able to keep the visitors at bay during his short stint on the ice.

The 42-year-old was recruited on a short-term deal from English Division 1 side Oxford City Stars as injury cover and says stepping out to make his professional bow will live long in the memory.

"It's a proud moment and I will treasure that, but I'm more pleased that we won,” he told the club’s social media channel. “That was the main thing.

"We came back home to our crowd and after last week we were in a position where we had to win, and the team did well to win."

Cech’s services weren’t required on Sunday as Adam Keefe’s side made it two wins on the bounce by defeating the Nottingham Panthers 4-2.

Beskorowany was kept busy throughout and made 27 saves in total during a man of the match performance at the Motorpoint Arena.

Sato was on the scoresheet once again, adding to strikes from Daniel Tedesco and Matt McLeod to give the Giants a two-goal advantage before Nazarian made sure of the points with 13 seconds left on the clock.