Sandwell Steelers...21 East Kilbride Pirates...20
East Kilbride Pirates’ 2019 campaign came to a painful and premature end on Sunday after they let a 20-point lead slip in the play-off quarter-finals.
Following a runners-up spot in the Northern Conference campaign, the Pirates had to travel to the West Midlands to face the Southern Conference champions Sandwell Steelers.
It looked like the Pirates had little problem handling their hosts when they went in 20-0 up at half-time.
However, Steelers mounted a comeback to steal the win by just a single point and end Pirates’ hopes of a semi-final slot.
EK were first in possession but immediately had to punt. However, Sandwell’s initial drive stalled when Ryan Miller picked off a wayward pass from home QB Tristan Varney.
Their second drive also came up short, and a low snap saw their punter retrieve the ball with his knee on the ground leaving the Pirates with good field position.
Quarterback Neil Baptie gratefully accepted the gift and straight away found James Lightbody with a 34-yard pass into the endzone.
Greg Atkinson added the PAT for an early 7-0 advantage. A Gordon Wallace interception on the last play of the period gave East Kilbride the ball to start the second quarter.
A brief, four-play drive was soon capped by Baptie’s second TD pass of the day. He completed an eight-yard throw to Struan Bailey and Atkinson again converted to double the lead.
Sandwell went three and out and EK increased their first half superiority by driving down field and scoring for a third time. On the 10th play of the drive, Baptie found Fraser McDonald from 23 yards for the TD.
A high snap meant Atkinson was unable to get his PAT kick away, and in the end he was happy to fall on the loose ball for a 20- half-time lead.
Both sides punted on their first possessions after the break before the home side finally got on the scoreboard
From their own 25-yard line, mainly running the ball, they progressed to the EK 10 yard line on 11 plays before Varney connected with Steve Kinnersley for six points. However, the PAT attempt failed leaving the visitors 20-6 ahead going into the fourth quarter.
Sandwell started the period driving into Pirates’ territory but the East Kilbride defence stood strong, forcing an incompletion on fourth down from the three-yard line.
EK then appeared to adopt a “hold what we have” mentality and tried to see the game out and use up as much time as possible. However, two quick pass completions, either side of a penalty for a late hit on QB Varney soon saw the Steelers at the 3-yard line.
From there, running back Raph Chisholm carried over before Varney passed to Rowan Huggins for the 2PAT, bringing his side to within just 6 points of Jamie McLaughlin's EK side.
The Pirates were unable to move the ball, but a good punt pushed Sandwell back as the game moved inside the two-minute warning.
With judicious use of the sideline and their time-outs, the Steelers moved the ball steadily upfield before Chisholm scored again, carrying in from eight yards. With only seconds left, Gavin Lawrence’s PAT split the uprights to give the home side their first lead of the day.
The Pirates, with only one time out remaining, managed to squeeze in 5 plays, however the QB was felled on the last of those by a late hit.
This gave a free, untimed down to end the game, but Baptie had to leave the field as he had received medical attention after the incident.
Angus Mackintosh was called on to heave a “Hail Mary” as far as he could, but as he scrambled to make room, the ball came loose and was recovered by Sandwell to end the tie.
