Youngsters have a ball

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HUNDREDS of youngsters took pa r t in dream football matches against their Dundee and Dundee United heroes.

The young players assembled in their massed ranks as squads of 100 each visited Dens Park to take on Dundee’s first-team players, while United held their game at the nearby GA Arena.

Pre-match handshakes took longer than normal as the players from the younger squad stretched well into their own half of the pitch.

Dundee found it tough in the first half and were trailing 5-1 – they even lost a goal when goalkeeper Jack Hamilton strayed from his penalty area to be caught out.

He said: “It was a difficult game and they came here and were well organised – and quite hard to break down.

“It’s great to see all of these youngsters on the pitch. When I was a young kid myself I never got an opportunity to do anything like this.

“It’s good for us to meet them. I am sure we will see a few of them in the future.”

Seven-year-old Mark Smith, of St Francis Primary School, loved being on the pitch at Dens and said: “I didn’t score any goals because I was in goals and only came out later.

“My favourite bit was when the Dundee players kept falling and when Jack Hamilton came out of his goals.

“I was saying to him at half-time he should not have come out.”

Luke Miller, 10, of St Andrews Primary, had previous experience of the football adventure and he said of the latest: “It has been very good.

“I play striker and it was good to beat Jordon Forster.”

Meanwhile, along Tannadice Street at United, the club’s Junior Tangerines trained with the first team before staging their own 100 kids v top players event.

The project is part of the club’s community trust coaching scheme involving children during the school holidays.

Youngsters in action in the game at Dens Park.