Pirates scrape narrow
victory over Merseyside

Merseyside Nighthawks 13 - East Kilbride Pirates 14

Game report by Bill Campbell     Pic :E K Pirates

On a Sunday when English attentions were focused elsewhere, East Kilbride headed south of the border to steal the narrowest of victories and then return home before anyone could realise what had happened. While the win keeps their unbeaten season intact, this was in many ways the ultimate act of piracy.

East Kilbride kicked off, and after the home side made some early progress, their initial drive stalled when Blair McTague recovered a Nighthawks’ fumble.

The Pirates went 3-and-out on their first possession however and were immediately forced to punt. Again, Merseyside made some progress, but they rather surprisingly decided to attempt a 42-yard field goal which ended up both short and wide.

The visitors finally made it into Merseyside territory on their second drive, but a sack of Quarterback Darren Brownlie on 4th Down saw the ball back in the hands of the Nighthawks as the game moved into the Second Quarter.

With Merseyside continuing to make steady gains, there was relief on the Pirates’ sideline when Defensive Back Jimmy McIntosh picked off an Andrew Dyson pass at the East Kilbride 9-yard line before running it back out to the 20.

The teams traded punts before East Kilbride had their longest drive of the day. Unfortunately most of it was in the wrong direction!

Despite an 11-play drive that included three 1st Downs, the net gain was only two yards and following a sack and Intentional Grounding penalty on relief Quarterback Andy Mackintosh they ended up in a 3rd and 51 yards to go situation before a short run then punt moved them up the field. The first half ended scoreless and everything was still up for grabs at the interval.

East Kilbride received the kick-off at the start of the second half and ten plays later took the lead. Running Back Iain Dick dived in from the 2-yard line for the touchdown and Steven Kane added the Extra Point to make it 7-0 in favour of the Pirates.

Merseyside were unable to make any real progress and the Pirates soon had the ball back, but a wayward Brownlie pass was intercepted by Liam Rushworth who returned it to the Pirates’ 20. Next play, Nighthawks QB Andrew Dyson connected with Wide Receiver Joe Black in the corner of the endzone for the score and Black tagged on the extra point to level things at 7-7.

The Pirates had possession as the game moved into the final period and the drive culminated in a 6-yard scoring pass from Brownlie to Wide Receiver Craig Towler. Kane again converted and made the lead 14-7.

Still the home side refused to give up and they came back immediately. Starting at their own 11-yard line, they moved up field, and eight plays later they were knocking on the door of the Pirates’ end zone.

Another Dyson pass found Black open for the touchdown, but having made the grab, Joe Black then missed the conversion and left his side trailing by a single point. With East Kilbride unable to make any real progress, the Merseyside team found themselves with one last chance as the game drew to a close.

They made it all the way to East Kilbride’s 10-yard line, and on a 4th and 3, opted to go for the Field Goal. Black failed to make a clean connection with the kick and his 25-yard attempt was pulled wide left of the posts.

East Kilbride breathed a huge sigh of relief and took a knee on the last play to conclude the game.

The Pirates must now be better prepared for their home tie against the Yorkshire Rams on Sunday 4 July. The game at Whitecraigs Rugby Club, Newton Mearns kicks off at 14:30.

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