1 October 2010 - Inside American Football

MATCH REPORTS
Pirates Set Sail for the Finals
BAFACL Division 1 Semi-final
East Kilbride Pirates 34 – Ipswich Cardinals 10
12th September 2010
East Kilbride successfully cleared
the last hurdle between themselves and
a return to the Division 1 Bowl Game
with a comfortable semi-final win
over Ipswich on Sunday. The Pirates
will now face Tamworth Phoenix
at Sixways Stadium, Worcester this
coming Sunday (19th) in a bid to
become 2010 Division 1 Champions in
their Silver Anniversary year.
The Pirates kicked off and Ipswich
started with a solid drive. They
steadily moved the ball forward until,
on the 11th play of the drive, they had
to settle for a 27-yard field goal by
Steven Baines. After that, both sides
had to punt the ball away on each of
their next two drives before the home
side finally managed to generate some
momentum on offense and ended a
long drive with a short scoring run
from Craig Towler. Steven Kane added
54 Inside American Football - October 2010
the conversion to make it 7-3 and give
the Pirates a lead they were never to
lose.
Early in the second period, quarterback
Ryan Hunter made his first appearance
since July, having recovered from hip
surgery earlier in the year. He quickly
got into his stride and completed a
31-yard scoring pass to Tight End
Kenny Muir. This along with Kane’s
subsequent conversion made it 14-3
to the Pirates. Then on the first play
after the restart, linebacker Lee
Collins picked off the Ipswich QB
and returned the interception 32 yards
for a touchdown, which Kane again
converted, making it 21-3 to East
Kilbride. There was no further scoring
in the first half, although Kane did
have a 25-yard field goal attempt that
slipped outside the left post.
There was an inauspicious start to the