Captain fantastic

Mission accomplished for Kyle Benedictus - “You need to treasure these moments, not a lot of people can win things in their career …

There are few who would disagree that the arrival of Kyle Benedictus at Dunfermline has not been a pivotal moment. The 31 year old has played every minute of every league match this season and his role as captain has left him hoarse after every game. Fortunately clinching the League One title left him with enough steam to describe his feelings following the title clinching 5-0 home win over Queen of the South:-

"I’m absolutely buzzing. Inside the club, inside the dressing room, that was our main goal from the start of the season, without bumping our mouths like other teams have done this season. It`s nice to finally do it, fully deserved. We were the best team by a long way this season.

Rout threatened all season

"We’ve always said that one team would get a bit of a hiding from us. We probably couldn’t have picked a better day for it. A lot of good play first half, a lot of people have said throughout the season we’ve probably been slow out the blocks, but today it could have been 3-0 or 4-0 in that first half. 

"The second half was very professional. Queens had a wee bit in the second half, but at 4-0 up people know it`s done - people just want to get out and celebrate."

The P word

What was strange was the introduction to the skipper’s vocabulary of the word promotion:

"I didn`t want to speak about last season, but it was hard, especially for the boys who were here last year. I said to them before the game, let that motivate you, remember last season, playing against Queen`s Park. 

"How times can change in football. You need to treasure these moments, not a lot of people can win things in their career, all of them deserve what`s coming their way."

Scenes in the ground

Kyle and his team mates enjoyed the title celebrations at the end and he said how delighted he felt for the fans as well:-

“They`ve come out in their numbers all season. There`s been a few times when we`ve said how thankful we are. Thousands came here again today. To see that performance that the boys put on because it`s a pressure situation.

“Those boys are going out knowing that if they win, they win the league and to come out and beat a team who are - make no bones about it - six unbeaten and we were the last team to beat them. To come out and put on a performance like that, it shows you how much credit I`ve got to give to these boys. Everyone one of them deserve it."

Unbeaten record

"There`s that many records I think the boys have broken, I forgot myself. Another clean sheet as well, I don`t think I`ve ever been part of a team that`s had so many clean sheets, but we start from the front. The work that Wighty puts in, Lewis McCann, Matty Todd, you can see the work they put in.

"It started from the first day they came in for pre-season, the gaffer was very big on working hard. If you work hard, teams will not be able to live with you. I think we`ve done that all season.Just to put it all together today, to come out and put in a performance like that, it`s fully justified."

How does this compare to other wins?

"I won the league with Dundee and I played 18 games. At Raith it was the Covid thing, we couldn`t` lift the trophy.  To play every minute of every game and captain the team to the league, it`s a moment I`ll treasure forever - my biggest achievement so far.

"Next year, who knows what can happen. Look at the Championship this year - I don`t want to get too ahead of myself - you look at the Championship and how tight it is. Who`s to say we can`t be up there next year."

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