Topic Originator: buffy
Date: Fri 8 Aug 12:36
From COWs:
“Ahead of our opening home league match against Airdrieonians no less than three Pars players are being honoured for achieving one hundred first team appearances with the club.
During our League Cup campaign, skipper Kyle Benedictus and goalkeeper Deniz Mehmet achieved personal milestones during their time with the Pars by making their 100th start in official competitions for the club in the League Cup match against Hearts and Hamilton respectively.
Signed in 2021 after being released by Dundee United, Deniz was a key player in Dunfermline’s promotion back to the Championship in 2022-2023. A feature of the season was the club remaining undefeated at home in the league, and conceding just 21 goals in the league that whole season, which is the lowest in the club’s history. Deniz recorded 24 clean sheets in the season (21 in the league), thus surpassing both the individual record of Ian Westwater and the previous club record of 23 clean sheets from the 1993-1994 season which was the combined efforts of three keepers. Deniz becomes only the 12th goalkeeper from the 87 used in the post-war period to achieve one hundred starts, and he has a very respectable 30% shut-out rate for all the games he has played. Well done Deniz!
For his part, Kyle Benedictus also played a central role in that record-breaking season of 2022/23, and it is no coincidence that since Kyle arrived at KDM Group East End Park, Dunfermline’s defence has been meaner than most in the Championship. Signed in June 2022, Bene is approaching five hundred senior appearances in Scottish football, a phenomenal figure that is only achieved by a few players in the game. His milestone achieved at Tynecastle also means that he becomes just the fourth player in the club’s history to go on to make more than one hundred appearances for the club after making their debut over the age of 30 (the others being Harry Colville, Willie Cunningham and Alex Kinninmonth).
To complete the picture is a young man who is expected to make an awful lot more appearances in his career. Ewan Otoo initially signed for Dunfermline on loan from Celtic in February 2023, but was soon convinced to sign a contract with the Pars on his release from Parkhead. Since then, Ewan has become a stalwart in the team, occupying a wide range of roles from central defender, full back, and wing back to central midfielder. Last season, Ewan played more games for Dunfermline than any other player, and it is that level of consistency that has brought him rapidly to 100 appearances following Saturday’s league opener with Greenock Morton.”
”Buffy’s Buns are the finest in Fife”, J. Spence 2019”
Post Edited (Fri 08 Aug 12:38)
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