Vikings Plundered
June 19th, 2025
Newcastle Vikings 00 – East Kilbride Pirates 44
In the first of three “must win” games, East Kilbride ran out comfortable victors on their last road trip of the regular season. They now have two home fixtures to try and secure a place in the post-season play-offs.
Newcastle received the opening kick off, but were unable to make any progress and immediately had to punt.
The Pirates took advantage, putting together a steady drive, culminating in a 3-yard TD run by Mark Stewart. With kicker, Rory Kay unavailable, EK went for a 2-point conversion which Stewart duly carried home. The Vikings were twice forced to go 3-and-out, with the Pirates intervening possession also stalling. However, East Kilbride got the ball back late in the quarter and were moving steadily down field as the period came to a close.
That drive concluded in Q2 with Greg Black running the ball in from 4 yards on 4th Down, while Dan Crawley added the 2PAT. The Pirates were now smelling blood, and stretched their lead on the 9th play of their next drive when QB Cammy Dunn passed to Fraser McDonald from 6 yards out. Stewart again ran in the 2PAT and the lead was now 24-0.
Before the interval, the Pirates added two more scores. Firstly Black had an unconverted 19-yard TD run, then just before the break, Logan Gallacher found Mike Sop with a swing pass and the running back sped 42 yards to the endzone. Gallacher also connected with Arran McDonald on the conversion to leave the score at 38-0.
With the score at half time being enough to see the introduction of a “running clock”, there were fewer opportunities for both sides in the remainder of the game. From the restart, East Kilbride put together a 12-play drive, finishing on a 1-yard run by Stewart. Gallacher’s 2-point pass fell incomplete to finish the scoring at 44-0. The home side then had their best drive of the day, a 15-play possession that got all the way to EK’s 8-yard line before failing on a 4th Down incompletion.
Mark Stewart was again the Jack Daniels Gameday MVP for another display of powerful running.
The Pirates now have a break until their next fixture, the return game against Newcastle on 6th July. In the meantime they will be watching results elsewhere, a four teams fight for the two available play-off places. The Newcastle game will also be the focus of the Club’s 40th anniversary, and an open invitation is in place to any former player, coach or volunteer to attend and join in the celebrations.
Report by Bill Campbell
Photos courtesy Duncolm Sports Photography – full gallery available here:
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