East Kilbride Pirates 100 – Manchester Titans 0

Last season saw the Pirates come within one game of promotion to the Premier Division. At the same time, the Manchester Titans were playing in Division 2, and while they did get promoted to Division 1 for the current campaign, the gulf between the two sides was all too apparent from early in this fixture. East Kilbride scored no fewer than 15 touchdowns while setting a team record score and margin of victory.

East Kilbride received the opening kick-off, and despite a 15-yard penalty negating most of the kick return yardage, it took just five plays to open the scoring. Quarterback Ryan Hunter passed to Craig Towler for a 36 yard touchdown. Manchester’s response lasted just 2 plays before Karl McCran forced a fumble which Blair McTague recovered. Another five plays brought a second touchdown, with Iain Dick running the ball 11 yards to score. This was converted by Steven Kane and the home side were 13-0 ahead in the early moments.

The Titans had to punt on their next possession and East Kilbride immediately hit back with a 57 yard scoring pass from Hunter to Kenny Muir. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors on their next drive. Forced into another punting situation, the resulting snap sailed over the punter’s head and his attempts to recover the loose ball only succeeded in knocking it deeper into his own half until it was eventually recovered by Kris Henderson and returned to the 8-yard line. Dick duly ran the ball home and Kane converted to make it 26-0 to the Pirates.

East Kilbride soon got the ball back after another punt and their fifth possession brought their fifth touchdown. A short run from Hunter rounded off a 51-yard drive and Kane again converted to make it 33-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The points avalanche continued in the second period. Hunter ran the ball home from 53 yards, Dick added his third touchdown of the day and Towler his second from 11 yards and one yard respectively. With the score standing at 53-0 at half time, Manchester could have invoked the ‘mercy’ rule and brought the game to an early conclusion, however they opted to see the game out and have to be commended for their ‘never say die’ attitude. Unfortunately, there was no respite in the third period with Hunter throwing scoring passes to Dave Pasnik (24 yards) and Towler (46 yards). There were also two more rushing touchdowns with both Dick (40 yards) and Hunter (36 yards) adding to their totals for the day.

As the game moved into the final quarter, the home side were 80 points ahead, but even with the substitution of several key players, there were still three more touchdowns to come. Dick, the only fit running back, to his personal touchdown total to six with runs of five and 36 yards before Towler scored the final touchdown from two yards out. The honour of getting the 100th point went to kicker Steven Kane whose conversion brought up the ton.

This victory consolidates the Pirates spot at the top of their Division, and a perfect day was rounded off by results elsewhere going in their favour as well. These mean that if East Kilbride wins their two remaining League games they will be guaranteed home field advantage in the play-offs.

This Sunday (31st) sees Gateshead Senators as the visitors to Hamilton Rugby Club where the game kicks off at 16:00. Before that, at 13:30, the Pirates Youth team take on Inverclyde Phoenix in a challenge game. Normal admission prices apply for this double-header.

Report and Pic C/O EK Pirates