Tigers tamed as Montgomerie earns MVP
May 19th, 2019
Glasgow Tigers 14 – East Kilbride Pirates 47
With regular QB Neil Baptie unavailable, it fell to Pirates’ Academy graduate Sam Montgomerie to take over at the helm. The former Youth and Junior player rewarded his Coach’s faith with a mature performance in leading his team to a comprehensive victory.
For the second consecutive game, EK got off to a strong start. On the first play after kick off, Defensive lineman Steven Kane forced a fumble then also recovered the ball to give the Offense great field position. After 3 short runs from Dougie Meechan, Montgomerie went to the air on 4th Down, connecting with Struan Bailey for the 19-yard TD. A dead ball penalty pushed the PAT attempt back 15 yards and Greg Atkinson’s kick was blocked.
The teams subsequently traded punts before the Pirates’ third possession brought more points. A 14 yard run by Meechan capped a 4-play, 75-yard drive. The PAT was good on this occasion to complete the first quarter scoring at 0-13.
East Kilbride had regained the ball following a 4th Down sack by Declan Kelly as the teams turned around. Starting on their own 4-yard line, the Pirates put together a long, 13-play drive ending with another Montgomerie-Bailey TD pass on 1st and Goal from the Glasgow 2-yard line. Atkinson’s PAT was once more successful.
Glasgow’s response was short-lived, with Marcus Galanti picking off a wayward pass two plays later. The turnover resulted in a third passing TD when Montgomerie found Andrew Meechan in the endzone from 10 yards before Atkinson added the PAT. This left the score at 0-27 and that remained unchanged up to the break.
There was a spectacular start to Q3 when James Lightbody returned the kick-off 84 yards to score. A low snap on the PAT saw holder Bailey attempt a pass into the endzone but the ball went to ground. Lightbody then went from hero to villain when the Tigers’ next drive stalled but he fumbled the punt return and the home side recovered. Given a short field to work with, Glasgow manged to put some points on the board. A 17-yard, 4th Down pass by Jig McCoy found Adam Bennett in the EZ and Jason Maclean tagged on the PAT.
The period ended with the Tigers again knocking on the door of EK’s endzone, converting a 4th-and-inches to take the ball to the 1-yard line. From there, McCoy ran the ball home to start the final quarter and Maclean again added the extra point. This narrowed EK’s lead to 14-33 but they soon set about restoring their advantage.
It took just 3 plays before Dougie Meechan ran in his second TD, sprinting home from 60-yards, and despite the 2-point pass from Montgomerie falling incomplete, the wind had quickly been taken from Glasgow sails.
It only remained for the visitors to complete the scoring late in the period. Greg Atkinson scored on an 18-yard run and Montgomerie ran in the 2PAT.
The 20-year old passer was unsurprisingly named OnPoint Financial MVP and received his award from Head Coach Jamie McLaughlin.
Next up for the Pirates is the visit of old adversaries Gateshead Senators to GHA on Sunday 2nd June (KO 15:00)
Report by Bill Campbell
Photos courtesy Duncolm Photography
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