East Kilbride Pirates 51 Merseyside Nighthawks 0

Result Called Midway Through the third quarter.

Back in the bygone days of the Scottish Gridiron Association League (Ah yes I remember it well) there was this rule designed to spare any teams on the receiving end of a hammering during one of their games.

From what I remember, the “blowout rule” was that if a team was down by forty clear points by the end of the second quarter, then the losing team were entitled to spare any further embarrassment and call a game which was beyond redemption.

In those early days, this usually came to force during any games against Glasgow Lions.

But today at Whitecraigs Rugby club, the Merseyside Nighthawks called time out on a match they would want to forget having been on the receiving end of a 51-0 hammering by East Kilbride Pirates, which was stopped midway through the third quarter.

Now coming into this game, this was a result that no one would have predicted, with the Scots having scrapped home a one point win against the Nighthawks on their pitch a few weeks ago.

And in the EK game programme they were the first to point out that they could have easily lost that game and even though the English side were at the bottom end of the conference, they last thing that they were going to do was take their visitors for granted in this return match up.

But after an impressive performance against Yorkshire Rams, the Scots needed to build on their momentum as they moved towards to the national play offs.

Then early into the opening quarter, the Pirates soon had the Nighthawks on the back foot with power runs upfield by Iain “Sparky” Dick”, taking the Scots to four yards from the goal line.

Minutes later, the Pirates small running back, continued to prove a handful for the helpless Nighthawks defense sprinting through the middle for the opening touchdown, with Steven Kane splitting the uprights for the extra point conversion for a 7-0 lead.

Merseyside showed little response on their next drive and were soon in trouble again when quarterback Ryan Hunter lobbed the ball to Kenny Muir, taking the Scots to the Merseyside 24 yard line.

Soon after, Hunter decided to hold on to the ball himself turning on the speed, shrugging off two challenges, diving over for a second touchdown, which was converted by Kane to make it 14-0.

Merseyside’s game plan appeared to be collapsing around them on the resulting kick of when on the ball was fumbled on the return and was recovered by the Scots at the English 14 yard line. 

And on the next play, Hunter punished the visitors when he found Neil Baptie, who made a great catch under pressure, giving his side another touchdown, with Kane nailing another conversion attempt.

Despite a positive start by the Nighthawks at the start of the second period, the English were dealt a classic sucker punch, which killed any prospects of a comeback, when Hunter showed the visitors a clean pair of heels, sprinting 73 yards for a top class six points. 

The Pirates then stretched their lead when Gary Carr took the ball home from six yards out and Kane nailed another conversion attempt and 34 unanswered points.

There was no respite for the Nighthawks as the Pirates turned up the pressure with Carr eating some big yardage, taking the ball to the English 19 yard line.

And minutes later, the drive was finished off with Carr diving over the goal line for another touchdown with Kane nailing the extra point kick, making it 41 unanswered points for the Pirates. 

The Pirates domination continued at the start of the second half when Blake Kyle took the ball to the 5 yard line, but the drive stalled and had to settle for a field goal attempt by Kane, who made no mistake.

Merseyside were fighting for their pride, which was shattered when a deep diagonal pass fell straight into hands of James McIntosh, who returned the ball all the way back into the visitors endzone. 

And when Kane nailed another extra point, it was the straw that broke the camel's back for the English, who not surprisingly decided to call time on what had been a trip north that they will want to forget in a hurry.

After the closely contested game a few weeks ago, not many people would have predicted this kind of scoreline for this match.

Whether it was a lack of personnel due to holidays, or a complete breakdown on their game plan, every one will have their own views on that one. 

But the last thing you want to do is to take anything away from a first class Pirates performance. 

There is still three more regular season games, but on this kind of form, they look well on their way to retain their Northern Conference title