Emotional East Kilbride Pirates sink Leicester Falcons to claim Northern Conference title and book British play-off final spot

After securing the Divisional title last week, emotional East Kilbride Pirates players added the Division 1 Northern Conference crown on Sunday, bringing with it promotion to the Premier Division for 2023.

Having clinched the Northern Conference with a 29-21 win over Leicester Falcons, East Kilbride will now face their Southern counterparts, the Cambridgeshire Cats, in the Division 1 Bowl game in London next month.

The team, led by head coach Andrew McGowan, will travel to the city’s New River Stadium on Sunday, September 4 looking for a first British title since 2011.

And you could see what it meant to the players as the magnitude of their achievement sank in at full-time.

Following an emphatic win over Northurmberland Vikings in the quarter-finals, Pirates made the trip south with their rivals holding home advantage.

But for the second successive game, the Pirates got off to a whirlwind start.

Andrew McBride returned the opening kick off out to the EK 38-yard line, and on the first play from scrimmage Quarterback Neil Baptie connected with Struan Bailey for a 52-yard touchdown and Scott McDonald added the extra point.

The Falcons went three-and-out on their opening drive and the visitors quickly doubled their advantage. A 4-play drive ended with Baptie finding Fraser McDonald from 34 yards. Another PAT made it 14-0 in the early stages.

After the initial shock, Leicester started to come back into the game, and they reduced the deficit late in the period. A 36-yard pass completion from Yassin Kap found Matt Allinson in the endzone, and although the conversion failed, the Falcons were back in it.

The game became much tighter in the second quarter. Leicester had a 41-yard Field Goal attempt, but Danny Burton’s kick was