Kirkcaldy Kestrels’ derby abandoned after Zamboni failure at Murrayfield

Saturday’s Scottish National League game drew a big crowd to the rink in the capital, but it ended in abrupt disappointment after the breakdown led to water leaking from the machine damaging the ice. Despite the efforts of rink staff, it wasn’t possible to drop the puck, and the game was abandoned.

A statement from Capitals said: “As a club we would like to apologise due the lack of updates during the whole situation but unfortunately no decision was being made therefore we had no information until the players had left the ice and returned to the locker room. We can understand the frustration - we would rather be posting about a classic game of hockey than this.

The Capitals players remained on the ice in the hope that the game would continue. They were willing to stay on as long as it would take to give the ice the chance to repair. The arena staff worked tirelessly for this to happen but the game sadly was cancelled.”

Fans have been offered refunds