The U16s were in National Youth Cup action this weekend, welcoming Carrick to Dundee for their second round tie. This was a new fixture for the boys, having never played each other before, so there was plenty of excitement before kick off.

Dundee could not have wished for a better start with Archie A opening the scoring after only 20 seconds. Max sent a high kick off into the air, that was contested and won by Kaiden, with the ball falling kindly for Archie who raced in from 30m to score with Euan adding the extras.

Playing uphill, and into the wind, the home side tried to take control of the game and soon found themselves further in front with Aidan finishing off a sweeping move to the edge. Soon after, though, the visitors got themselves on the board with a well worked try out wide, that was converted, to reduce the deficit to five points.

The rest of the half was well contested, with Carrick using their big, powerful forwards to try and gain some momentum down the hill, and Dundee looking to ship the ball wide at every opportunity, though the conditions were tough because of the wind. Dundee defended their twenty-two well and kept the visitors at arms length for long periods, before converting their own pressure at the end of the half into a score. After winning a penalty, a quick tap and good hands from the forwards saw Euan through a hole to score under the posts, with the extras also added, to see Dundee lead 19-7 at the interval.

The home side started the second half very quickly, adding two converted tries inside the first five minutes, first with Kaiden racing clear up the wing to score a well worked try, then Euan adding his second of the afternoon under the posts.

The visitors grabbed themselves their second try of the afternoon but it was Dundee who controlled the possession, territory and flow of the second half running in a further five tries in the final twenty minutes to round off a dominant display.

Aidan grabbed his second of the afternoon before a superb flowing move that went from one edge to the other through the hands of the forwards, to send Max clear and under the posts. Then, another really sharp, sweeping move was scored by Aidan before Archie A powered over to grab his second of the afternoon. Lucas finished the scoring, dancing past a couple of defenders to score from close range.

Final score: Dundee 66-12 Carrick

"I'm really pleased with our performance, and the quality of our play today. Our opposition were a complete unknown to us before kick off, and looking through their results we knew they'd be a strong outfit, which proved to be the case, but I thought we showed a real level of maturity in how we controlled the game, and thoroughly deserved the victory in my opinion.

Despite what the final score might suggest, Carrick really tested us at times today, especially up front with their big, powerful forwards, but I thought our lads stood up to that test well; made tackles all day and, when the chances presented themselves, were excellent in attack.

We spoke to the lads at half time and challenged them to be more clinical in attack and they more than answered that challenge. I thought we controlled the second half really well, both in possession and territory, but this week we were so much more clinical when chances presented themselves which was really pleasing for me.

As always, we will reflect and take what we've learnt from this into training, continue to develop and get better - something we continue to do week after week. We're back in league action next week, and look forward to welcoming Deeside to Dundee."

Graeme Craig, Head Coach.