Kicking off down the hill on an ideal autumnal afternoon for rugby, Garry Smith’s men raced out of the blocks scoring four unanswered tries during the first quarter. Carter Long opened the Dee account after only two minutes combining with his centre partner Chris Connelly to run a superb line through the opposition defence. Further scores quickly followed courtesy of Callum Moore and the bulldozing Andy McCracken before captain Adam McGrath, who enjoyed another fine performance in hand and from the kicking tee, went over to take the Dee 24 points ahead.

The inevitable response from a robust and experienced Carrick pack resulted in two tries in what proved to be a short-lived comeback for the visitors before John Hoslett touched down in the corner, after a fine individual run, to ensure the Dee men turned round with a 31 - 12 lead at half time.

The second half very much mirrored the first, with well worked scores from scrum half Adam Russell, whose pace and running lines not for the first time this season carved open the opposition defence, and the powerful Connolly.

However it was man of the match Daniel Onstwedder, impressive in attack and defence all afternoon, who had the final word with a superb 70 metre run to seal the eight try victory.

After a three week break, the seconds can be satisfied with another bonus point win in a performance which ebbed and flowed throughout. The team travels to Ballyclare next weekend with both confidence and an awareness of the areas of structured play where improvements will be needed.