Madras S2 Blues made the short journey to Cupar to play their final game of 2014 against local rivals, Howe of Fife. These matches are always a tough grind, but with a strong squad and a good record against Howe, there was no reason why the boys would not make a contest of it. From the first whistle, it was clear that both sides wanted to make an early impression and, with Howe playing downhill, it was not long before strong forward play and gravity had them deep into Madras' half. Madras' defence was robust with tackle after tackle unnerving the opposition, and giving Madras the upper hand. Persistent, effective rucking and counter-rucking allowed the boys to capitalise on mistakes that were soon to befall the hosts. As the Madras advance out of their own half continued, it was not long before their forwards yielded the ball to the backs, passing quickly through the back-line and into the hands of winger, Mungo Somerville, and a sprint up the remainder of the pitch for the first try. Howe continued to pile on pressure and Madras continued to soak it up, both sides making mistakes. Another quick ball from the breakdown ended up with prop forward, Thomas Bates, outpacing the opposition and in for try number two. Howe, struck back almost immediately with a well worked try of their own before Harry Dunstan broke through a gap in the Howe defence for a try that delivered the boys a half-time lead of 10-4.

Playing down hill in the second half, Harry and Mungo both scored a couple of team effort tries delivered by forwards who did not seem to tire of impressive rucking, mauling and tackling. In the late stages of the match, a final try came from yet another hard won ruck, the ball being plucked out by Jude Corns and sent along a back-line that was well covered by the opposition. Several tackles were well made, but each time the ball was popped up into the hands of ever present support and finally to Harry Dunstan for him to touch down. Harry Mercer and Robert Sparks(C) provided the afters. The game was a delight to watch, both sides playing good, clean rugby and hungry to the end. Special mention also to Struan Anderson, Jack Christie and Rory Fraser who led by example and tackled ferociously throughout. All 19 boys were a credit to Madras RFC.

Final score: Howe 4 - Madras 20.