S1’s back to winning ways in sunny St. Andrews

Madras 31 – 49 Linlithgow

Saturday 05 October 2024

Report by Stuart Taylor

Having travelled to St. Andrews with the S2 and S3 squads the S1’s got off the team bus at St. Leonards School for their game with Madras. With some coaches wisely travelling separately arriving with ear drums intact, it was clear the S1 reds having exhausted their repertoire of tunes (and the driver probably!) were in high spirits and were up for the challenge in idyllic rugby surroundings.  With an onsite snack trailer offering bacon rolls to the travelling supporters, and a famous ice cream shop a short stroll from the pitch, surely S1 rugby can’t possibly get better than this?  

Our hosts were missing a few of their players and it was agreed that an 11 aside game would be played. With a healthy substitute bench the Reds were relishing the match.

The game started positively for the Reds who out muscled the Madras team with Logan scoring the first try of the day by pushing his way over at the corner. Max stepped up for the conversion and confidently slotted the ball over for full points. 

Madras fought admirably but the Reds were proving too strong for their defence and it wasn’t long until Callum surged forward and kindly placed the ball, below the posts, for the kicker Rory who converted with accuracy.

Madras had a particularly robust ball carrier who gained ground every time he got the ball and continually tested all of the Reds’ bands of steel. Madras were in the ascendency and had their efforts rewarded in style with three tries in quick succession only missing one of their conversions.

With the Reds’ substitutes rotating, it wasn’t long before the fresh legs made a difference and after a series of direct runs and pop ups, Jack O went over for the Reds and Max converted.

The Reds continued to make impressive runs, however Madras, to their credit, thwarted try scoring opportunities with decisive tackles close to the try line.  Much to the frustration of the Reds support runners who were queuing up and outnumbered the Madras defensive line on numerous occasions.  Madras converted a try just before half time to go in 5 points up at the break.

At the beginning of the second half it was clear that Joe had something to prove having missed out on an earlier scoring opportunity. Collecting the ball at the half way line he set off and dived between the posts for a much needed try which was deftly converted by Nathan.

The Reds fell short of the try line on a few more occasions with Madras taking each opportunity that presented itself, eventually scoring what would be their last try of the day with the conversion attempt falling short.

Fin C, Finlay McD, Ruaridh S and Lucas carried well continually gaining ground, offloading accurately to the speedy Reds players Nathan and Fin H, who both worked hard to remain in field and maintain possession.

Alternating scrum half’s Jay and Blair provided quick ball for fly half Max who made positive efforts to direct the flow of traffic.  Jack, Tom and Logan are looking more assured in the scrum and tackled ferociously throughout the match. 

The Reds clearly had more in the tank and made good use of their substitutes with Rory converting his try. Shortly after, Callum made a surging run to score a try which was then converted by Max.

With Madras losing an injured player, Linlithgow also dropped a player to see out the remainder of the match ten a side. This opened things up and meant the Reds could exploit the gaps with their rested players.

The Reds managed to squeeze in one final try with Rory dotting down and effortlessly converting his try. Meaning the Reds finished another game with 100% conversion success!

The win was a much needed confidence boost for the S1 Linlithgow team. Seven converted tries was indeed a good morning’s work. Basking in the welcome St. Andrew’s sunshine, some of the S1’s left St. Leonards in the team bus singing victory songs while others went into town for a well-deserved ice cream by the sea. Carlsberg don’t do rugby days out ….but if they did….