Pirates edge out Wolves

East Kilbride Pirates came from behind to earn a hard-fought 20-15 victory over Edinburgh Wolves on Sunday.

The Wolves had held the Pirates to a draw last month in the opening game of the season and the EK side breathed a sigh of relief as they came through this one unscathed.

It took until the third quarter for the Wolves to break the deadlock as they opened up a 9-0 advantage. Later in the period, EK finally got on the scoreboard when a six-play drive concluded with Neil Baptie finding Andy Meechan in the corner of the endzone from 10 yards. Steven Kane kicked the conversion to narrow the gap to two.

Undaunted, the home side took just two plays to restore their advantage and pushed 15-7 ahead.

The final play of the period saw Baptie connect with wide receiver Kenny Muir for a 34 yard TD. EK tried for the 2-point conversion to tie the score, but Baptie’s pass was batted away.

With the game finely balanced in the fourth quarter, it was another Special Teams play that turned it in the Pirates favour. Gordon Wallace blocked an Edinburgh punt, with the ball going out of bounds at the Wolves’25 yard line.

From there, Baptie again passed to Muir for the go ahead TD. Kane added the point to give the Pirates a 20-15 win.

The Pirates now take a break from league action as they face US college team, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags, on May 20. Kick-off is 2pm at West of Scotland Rugby Club.