Mackie hosted Dundee on Sunday 22nd March 2026 for their final fixture of the Culblean Cup, hoping to build on their strong performance against Falkirk the previous week and finish the season on a high. With a full squad made up of plenty of seasoned veterans and a handful of debutants, they took to the field.

They faced a Dundee side similar in size, physicality and speed, making for what could have been a competitive match. As the game got underway the two teams appeared evenly matched, both sides able to make ground with ball in hand, recycle effectively at the breakdown and put in their fair share of tackles. Mackie’s demeanour, however, lacked confidence. What started off looking like early match nerves resulted in some clumsy handling and a dropped ball, giving Dundee an unexpected opportunity to gather and run in their first try. This happened a further two times in the opening fifteen minutes and left the Mackie boys severely on the back foot.

Some well-worked play got Mackie up the pitch and into the Dundee twenty-two. Several more good phases followed and Mackie were threateningly close to the try line. The Mackie attack was strong, with several lads making hard runs into the Dundee defence, who stayed resolute and denied Murray McLaughlin, Elliot Keir, Harvey Parley and Dylan Main from crossing the line. When Mackie realised they were not going to crash through the middle, they did well to get the ball out to the right. Stefan Moir showed his speed to get around the outside of the defence, down the wing and score in the corner.

Having proven to themselves that they had the ability to beat the Dundee defence, it felt like this was the turning moment Mackie needed to get back into the game. Frustratingly for those watching from the sidelines, the well-worked try did not lift spirits and the team just did not come together. Instead, it led to uncharacteristic moments of throwing the ball away in contact, sloppy handling and badly executed passes, sometimes landing at teammates’ feet or as high hospital passes, taking the threat out of the attack and gifting opportunities to Dundee on a plate.

What was clear from the start is that Mackie have come a long way this season. They are doing the hard work on the training field and their skills are visibly improving, but so is every opposition. The only thing missing now is confidence, self-belief, urgency and a hunger to win.

While it wasn’t to be, there were some fantastic individual efforts. Strong runs from Murray, Dylan, Harvey and Elliot came close to penetrating the Dundee defence, alongside other strong running and tackling from Douglas Robertson, Hughie Russell and Graeme Whittaker. Stefan Moir’s tenacious run resulted in the only Mackie try of the afternoon, Griff Goalen put in several single-handed counter-ruck clear-outs, and debutants Rory Greer and Jayden Mogba got their first match under their belts. A very special mention goes to Mackie Player of the Match, Ben voor de Poorte. In his first ever match of rugby, he showed real pace in attack, blitzed up in defence and executed multiple strong tackles.

As the season starts to wind down, we can reflect on how much the boys have developed and now focus on gelling as a team and helping the new lads get up to speed so they can show their full potential next year.

Mark Goalen, U14s Assistant Coach

A big thanks to the U14s Team Sponsor - McKnight Associates!