East Kilbride Pirates quarterback Neil Baptie admits it was all very surreal as his ‘lucky 13 omen’ delivered him not only the British title but also the MVP award in their impressive win over Cambridgeshire Cats.
The club’s number 13 played a starring role in his 13th year with the team to pick up the top individual accolade, as the Pirates tasted British title success for the first time since 2011.
Promotion to the Premiership was already confirmed after lifting the Northern Conference crown last month, but their 50-12 victory in London on September 4 was the icing on the cake for a dream season.
The modest 33-year-old, from Nerston West, insisted he was embarrassed to win the most valuable player prize but beamed: “There was so much talk about the number 13 in the 13th year and it is unreal that it actually all came true.
“Winning the MVP, I was kind of embarrassed because I definitely felt I didn’t deserve it. I felt there was better players than me on the field.
“But I couldn’t have appreciated it any more. I couldn’t have envisioned a better end to a better season in that 13th year with the 13 omen. It was just so surreal.
“I’ve got to admit it did surprise me how comfortable a win it was.
“We were confident going into the game, we’d done a lot of scouting and preparation in the lead up as well so we felt really ready for the challenge. On the day you know anything can happen. It’s the age old saying of ‘Any Given Sunday’. A team that would be underdogs can come up and win.
“It was a little bit of a shock how much we dominated the game but, at the same time, it wasn’t that big of a surprise looking back when we look at the preparation we put into the game.
“Even the logistics were good. We were able to travel down the day before and stay over in London before the game.”It all worked out in the end.”
Baptie was just a rookie the last time Pirates lifted a British title, playing understudy to Ryan Hunter when they beat Leicestershire Falcons on that occasion.
He is delighted to have played a key role in their latest success and believes a talented squad are primed for an assault on the Premiership next year.
He added: “We left the stadium at 10pm that night and I remember getting home about 6am the next morning.
"But it was a cracking bus journey home and it was reminiscent of the 2011 bus.
"The elation and joy everyone had was great.
“It is a great squad we have again. Back in 2011 we were at the peak in terms of the players we had and where they were in their careers.
“That was the best they were going to be at. Our average age this season is like 23/24 so now that we’ve been promoted to the Premiership I feel our trajectory is only going one way.”
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