Kirkcaldy rugby skipper Craig Hamilton hails returning star for two tries in win at Dundee
Kirkcaldy skipper Craig Hamilton lauded team-mate Kieran Mitchell for scoring two tries at his former club Dundee as the Blues won their second Arnold Clark National League Division 2 outing of the campaign 22-17 last Saturday.
Leading 15-5 at half-time thanks to open side flanker Mitchell’s brace plus a penalty and a conversion by Ethan Murray, Kirkcaldy sealed the deal after the interval with a Jo Dewar try converted by Murray.
And skipper Hamilton – wearing the armband due to Fin Smith’s current injury absence, told the Fife Free Press: "Kieran used to play for Dundee so I think he took that a bit personally on Saturday in the best way possible for us.
"It was probably one of the better games I’ve seen Kieran play. He is a good, effective, aggressive player and he was very much up for the battle.
"He can be a hot headed character and he’s one of my good pals, I’ve known him for a long time.
"He was only at Dundee for a season but he came back to us a better and more well rounded player.
“Unfortunately he went off injured on Saturday with a knee knock which shook the boat a wee bit.
“It was just silly mistakes from silly penalties given away which let Dundee back in the game. It was a really hard fought win.”
Kirkcaldy, sixth on five points from two matches, host third-placed Peebles in the league this Saturday in a 3pm kick-off.
Hamilton said: "It’s always a bit of a dogfight against Peebles. Everybody needs to front up because they are a big, physical team.
“With the home crowd behind us we can hopefully kick on, put some wins together and start performing the way we should be.”