The Belfast Giants have lost to Slovan Bratislava in Sunday's Continental Cup fifth place play-off in Milan.

Miroslav Lazo put Bratislava ahead on 10 minutes but on 17.18 Robbie Sandrock equalised with a powerplay goal when the Slovakians had two players in the penalty bin.

Bratislava scored their second on 18.58 through Jurag Halaj as Belfast's Curt Bowen and Shane Johnson served penalties.

Bratislava went into a 3-1 lead through a Zdeno Cigar goal 28 seconds into the second period but Dave Matsos quickly pulled one back for the Giants on 21.13.

Robbie Sandrock scored for the Giants

However, the Giants conceded a short-handed goal on 37.08 scored by Igor Rataj when the Slovakians were a man down.

Bowen scored for Belfast on 51.34 to close the gap to 4-3.

The Giants pressed keenly in the closing stages but were dealt a blow when Ryan Kuwabara was dismissed for boarding.

The Giants had two goals disallowed during the second period but coach Whistle said the referee had made the right decisions.

And he praised the skill of the Bratislava side.

"Slovan played really well, they have got a lot of skill on their team and they took advantage of every time we made a mistake," said Whistle.

"They are a well-coached team and were really hard to play against.

"It was a sad way for us to finish the weekend. But we had a good time and we were just glad to be here.

"I thought we worked hard and it was a great experience just being in this tournament."