East Kilbride Pirates’ women’s flag team have once again secured a place in the national women’s flag football league finals this weekend at Ravenscraig.
The competition returns to Scotland for a second year on Saturday, giving the Pirates a home turf advantage they hope will work in their favour.
The Pirates women finished their regular season ranked the number three seed overall in the UK out of 14 teams, which qualified them for a place in the finals. Their placing earned them a ‘bye’ through the first round, and they will play either London Amazons or Grangemouth Fillies – the only other Scottish team in the conference – in the quarter-finals, with those sides battling out a preliminary tie beforehand.
Last year the team finished third overall in the UK, and head coach Andrew Gibson is determined to better that result in 2022.
He said: “Getting to the finals again has been a huge achievement of the team this year, but we want more.
“We’ve had an exceptionally strong season, playing at some international tournaments and bringing back valuable experience that’s translated well into our domestic play.
“We’ve played the perennial finalists well in our given opportunities and hopefully can upset the apple cart on Saturday. “
And club chair Amanda McDonald added: “The club are hugely proud of the success of our women’s flag team.
“The players and coaches have worked so hard this year to make sure they’re in a great place to go into the finals – and the finals being held in Scotland again is the cherry on the cake after a season of travelling to play games in England.”
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