Pirates set sail for playoffs:
Jamie McLaughlin says reaching the play-offs for the first time in four years is a massive achievement for East Kilbride Pirates.
The team’s head coach guided them to second place in the NFC 1 North Conference this season - narrowly losing out on the title to Northumberland Vikings on their head-to-head record - and that has secured their place in the play-off quarter-finals.
Losing out on the title means they have to forgo home advantage and on Sunday they travel to Tipton in the West Midlands to face NFC 1 South champions Sandwell Steelers.
Having become so used to reaching finals in the early 2010s, the past few years have been periods of rebuilding and nurturing young talent.
The Pirates suffered relegation in 2017 and are bidding to get back to the top flight, so McLaughlin is thrilled to see the team back playing big games at the business end of the campaign.
He told the News:“We haven’t had any post-season experience since 2015, so it’s a massive success to be back here.
“But also the weight of progression is now on the shoulders of a lot of players who are inexperienced in this arena.
“Obviously the post-season is a different time for the team and we have to make sure that we’re operating at our peak in terms of consistency and performance [ahead of Sunday’s game].”
It’s sure to be a tight contest on Sunday with the Pirates winning nine out of their 10 league matches and Steelers securing a perfect 10.
Should they progress to the last four, they could be reunited with this season’s big foes, as they would face the winner of the clash between Northumberland Vikings and the Shropshire Revolutions.
McLaughlin added:“The season has been partially a success in that we’ve returned to relevance and managed to get rid of the poor attitudes of the recent past.
“But there’s still a lot of work to do before we can consider ourselves genuine contenders at a national level.”
Kick-off on Sunday is 2pm and for anyone wishing to head down and cheer on the team the game will be played at Tipton Sports Academy, DY4 0BS.