Dundee U/18s boss Scott Robertson has hailed the ‘maturity’ of his side after they booked their place in the Scottish Youth Cup final.
A Mikey Hunter double saw the young Dark Blues topple St Mirren 2-0, with a Hampden clash against Kilmarnock in the final their reward.
The Dee were on top throughout in front of a crowd of 1400 in Paisley and Robertson was deeply satisfied by his players’ cool-headed performance.
He said: “The objective was to make it to the final, we’ve managed to do that and the overriding emotion is just so much pride in the young players.
“The performance they put on, the maturity they showed, in terms of playing the game in the right way; having to pass the ball and also having to properly defend at times.
“We got into half-time at 1-0 and the message was we weren’t going to be coming out [for the second half] and trying to camp in.
“Thankfully Mikey managed to add another with plenty of time remaining and there could have been a third or fourth because we had a lot of opportunities on the counter-attack from that solid shape we had.”
Robertson was also full of praise for double goal-scorer Hunter, who spent time on loan with Brechin City in the first half of the season.
“That’s what Mikey does,” he told Dee TV.
“He’s still a young player but he’s been very fortunate this season at such a tender age to go out to the Highland League and have a loan experience.
“You can see the impact that’s had on him in terms of playing the game in the right way and using the physical advantages he’s got.
“[Then he does] what he does, attacking the box from a cross, bundling it over the line, then his second goal shows that little bit of quality he possesses.
“It’s something he works on in his own time, with his striking technique and the power that he’s got, so to see it come off in a game, on such an occasion, I’m very proud of him because I see how hard he works.”
The young Dee will face a Kilmarnock side who are riding high in the league in April’s final.
Robertson accepts they will pose his side problems at Hampden.
But he insists next month’s showpiece will be a thrilling opportunity for those in Dark Blue to claim national silverware.
“If Kilmarnock are not up at the top, they’re certainly challenging at the top of that elite league,” he said.
“We’ve played them a few times at reserve level and a few of our U/18s have played in those matches and we’ve seen the threat they’ve got.
“We’ll rest up, we’ll use the games we’ve got between now and then to get the boys in the best condition we can.
“It’s an occasion the boys have earned. If you look at our league table, it maybe doesn’t look too promising, down the bottom end, but we use those games to bed in the young players at an early age.
“This occasion they’ve earned at the end of April will be an exciting occasion for everyone.”
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