The Glasgow Tigers’ first game against local rivals the East Kilbride Pirates for a number of years got off to a bad start, with the home side fumbling the ball inside their own twenty yard line in the opening moments. The change of possession proved to be all the Pirates needed to get on the scoreboard first, following a big 4th down pass.
Tigers defensive lineman Duncan Gray blocked the extra point – in only his second game since joining the side – and with the score 6-0, the teams went on to trade possession, before the Tigers ensuing drive was stopped by a mixture of tough tacking and penalties.
Back in possession, the Pirates drove the ball downfield and finished it off with a 14-yard run from Dougie Meechan. This time, the conversion kick was successful and the score was 13-0 to the away side.
A big kick off return from Adam Bennett gave the Tigers better field possession and quick runs from Toby Jeffreys had the Glasgow side knocking on the door. Despite moving the ball well, they felt frustratingly short and were unable to convert from 5 yards out. The first half was one for the Tigers when everything that could go wrong did.
In the second quarter the Pirates added to their lead with another rushing touchdown, leaving the Tigers to try and get some momentum going with the score now 20-0. A wayward pass was intercepted by the Pirates – symptomatic of a disappointing, frustrating first half.
The East Kilbride offence returned, facing another short field and marched down for a second passing touchdown on the afternoon. With the half-time score a healthy 27- 0 in their favour, the Pirates were looking good while the Tigers were yet to get out of first gear.
As the second half began the Tigers kicked off and were further behind when EK’s James Lightbody took the kickoff return all the way back for a score. The Tigers Robb Gould just managed to bat down the pass attempt for the conversion, making it 33-0.
After a Tigers punt in the ensuing drive, Gould came up big again to spark some life into the Glasgow team when he recovered a fumbled punt return. The Tigers offence were on the board when QB Jig McCoy connected with receiver Adam Bennett on a nice 17 yard pass to Adam Bennett before Jason Maclean added the conversion kick.
The second half saw much improvement, with the offence scoring on another good drive as Jig began the Tigers ran in for the score, with another McLean kick conversion reducing the deficit to 33-14.
Despite a better performance out of the half from the home side, the Pirates put the game out of reach with a huge Dougie Meechan touchdown run on their next drive. After taking the ball a full 70 yards – and despite failing on another two-point conversion – the Pirates held a healthy 39-14 lead.
The final score of the game came about when the Greg Atkinson ran the ball in from 16 yards out for the Pirates. East Kilbride QB Sam Montgomerie then sprinted in for a two-point conversion to make it 47- 14 to his side.
After a disappointing afternoon, the Tigers dropped to 2 – 2 for the season. Coach McCluskey’s side have two Sundays without games before returning to Nethercraigs to host the Aberdeen Roughnecks on Sunday 9th June. Follow us on Facebook for all the latest news from the Tigers.
