Pirates hit the road running

Gateshead Senators 0 - East Kilbride Pirates 56

The Pirates hit the road running in their 2011 campaign opening fixture away against the Gateshead Senators, but not before it looked like it might stall at the first attempt. They had to wait while their hosts and the match day officials debated the level of medical cover available. The problems were eventually resolved and the game kicked off almost an hour after the scheduled start time.

Both sides punted on their first possession, but second time around East Kilbride opened their account with a trademark 55-yard run from quarterback Ryan Hunter and Steven Kane added the conversion to make it 7-0. That lead soon doubled as Hunter completed a scoring pass to Jamie McLaughlin for a 10-yard touchdown and Kane, who was to be perfect on the day, again converted.

Into the second quarter and the Pirates’ defence were dominating their opposite numbers and it wasn’t long before Gateshead were forced to punt the ball back again. This time however, Hunter saw his pass tipped by his receiver straight into the hands of a grateful Senator.

This was only a temporary aberration and normal service was resumed the next time East Kilbride got the ball. An 8-play drive was capped by a 2-yard run from Iain Dick and the extra point made it 21-0. An Ivor Clark interception quickly regained the ball for the visitors and two plays later, Hunter was again in the endzone, this time on a 25-yard dash. So, 28-0 to East Kilbride at the interval, and that would have been more had Defensive Back Scott Findlay not had his 45-yard Interception return called back for an infringement by a team-mate.

After both sides traded possession at the start of the third period, the Pirates’ Defence got in on the act with Linebacker Lee Collins intercepting a wayward pass and returning it 39 yards to the end zone. Kane tagged on the Point After to make it 35-0. Perhaps surprisingly, there was no further scoring until the game moved into the final quarter.

The period started deep in Gateshead territory after Lineman Kris Henderson had picked off a Gateshead pass on the last play of the third quarter, but didn’t have the legs to go all the way and score. Two carries from Blake Kyle completed those last 4 yards to stretch the advantage to 42-0. Gateshead soon punted once more and Quarterback Neil Baptie engineered a short, 5-play drive before carrying the ball home himself from the 4-yard line.

As the game drew to its conclusion, the Senators completed a bad day by gifting East Kilbride their final score. They were backed up deep in their own territory, and a low snap saw the ball squirm into the Gateshead endzone.

In a desperate attempt to bat the ball out of bounds for a 2-point safety, their quarterback only succeeded in scooping it straight into the hands of a grateful Stuart Proudlock, who was only too happy to accept the gift of a touchdown on his debut. Kane kicked the conversion to compete a satisfying victory on opening day.

Due to the vagaries of this year’s schedule, East Kilbride now don’t have another game until May 15th when they travel to meet the Yorkshire Rams in Leeds.

Game report by Bill Campbell