East Kilbride’s title hopes in tatters after Tamworth victory

Game Report by Bill Campbell

Photo credit - Luke Plastow

 

Tamworth Phoenix 32 - East Kilbride Pirates 27

 

A second defeat of the season leaves East Kilbride’s title hopes hanging by the slimmest of threads. They must now win out through the second half of the season and also hope that someone else can help by defeating Tamworth if they are to have any hope of retaining the Northern Conference crown.

The game started brightly for the Pirates, with Neil Baptie leading them on a steady drive upfield.. This came to an abrupt end when Tamworth cornerback John Kenyon athletically scooped up a low Baptie pass for the interception. The Phoenix response was short lived however, as Dougie Meechan returned the compliment just five plays later. He also took his interception back 44 yards for a touchdown, his third in two games. Craig Black’s successful conversion gave the visitors an early 7-0 lead in what was to be a high scoring game. Both sides traded punts for the remainder of the period, with the Pirates’ defence holding strong on a 4^th-and-goal from the 1-yard line to regain possession as the second quarter arrived.

Once more EK’s punter was called into action, but a good return gave Phoenix an early opportunity to reduce the deficit. This they duly did, but had to settle for a 32 yard Alex Lenkowski field goal. East Kilbride’s response was to drive all the way to Tamworth’s 4 yard line. A sharp momentum swing then took place as an option pass to Iain Dick went to ground and was ruled a fumble. It was recovered by William Hobbs who returned it 84 yards to give his side their first lead of the game at 9-7. East Kilbride bounced straight back and their next drive ended with a 24 yard scoring pass from Baptie to Jamie McLaughlin. Black’s conversion kick went wide of the right hand post, but the 13-9 lead was to remain until half time.

 

The third quarter got off to the perfect start for East Kilbride. After the kick off, Tamworth fumbled the ball and Steven Wilson recovered for the Pirates. Just four plays later, running back Dick found himself in the endzone after a 26-yard carry.  Black converted to extend the lead to 20-9. The hosts quickly regained their composure and moved the ball back towards EK’s endzone, concluding with a 2-yard scoring run by Adam Hope. Lenkowski converted to cut the gap to just 4 points. Tamworth’s next drive saw them attempt a 30-yard field goal, but the gusting wind pushed the kick wide of the posts. Having dodged that particular bullet, it was the Pirates who fired the next shot when Dick added his second TD of the day. A 12-yard run capped a 9-play drive and Black once more converted to restore a 27-16 lead. The high scoring, see-saw quarter still had more to offer, and although Tamworth had to punt, a needless penalty during the kick return saw the Pirates backed up to their own 1-yard line. A risky pitch to running back Adam Kyle saw ball and defender arrive at the same time, with the ball falling free in the endzone where several ‘Nix players fell on the ball to recover for the TD. As the period expired, Lenkowski converted to leave his side trailing 23-27 going into the fourth quarter.

 

East Kilbride went 3-and-out to start the final period, and a short punt left Tamworth still inside EK territory. They took full advantage of this and QB James Slack found Ben Burslem from 11 yards for the go-ahead score. With something to cling onto, the home defence stepped up to hold EK at bay and give their offensive colleagues short fields to work with. Phoenix almost extended their lead, but an Ivor Clark interception of Slack in the endzone maintained the Pirates interest in the game. It was only a temporary reprieve though and another field goal by Lenkowski from 27 yards meant the visitors needed a TD to win late in the game. The attempted fightback stalled however, and an interception by Tamworth allowed them to kneel out the game for a hard earned win.

 

So the Pirates somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and leave themselves with a mountain to climb. The coaches were only too aware that despite several plusses from the performance, there are key areas that need to be addressed. Among those is the number of penalties that the team regularly concede. In this game alone there were two TD’s called back for unnecessary fouls. They have two weeks to work on this before they start the second half of the campaign with a road trip to face Coventry on Saturday 27 June. Having already defeated the Jets 37-6 earlier this year, it is the ideal opportunity to get back to winning ways.