Orlando Pirates breezed into the Last 16 of the Nedbank without breaking a sweat against amateur side Crystal Lake FC at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Buccaneers thrashed the young lads from Bushbuckridge 6-0 in what was a free football lesson. However, the youngsters did relatively well to keep the scoreline respectable; otherwise, it could have been a major walloping. They will take the lesson and become better players in the future.
The massive scoreline showcased the gulf between the PSL and the SA amateur leagues. Crystal Lake players, who are not full-time professionals, lacked the basics and were caught off-side on numerous occasions. Their fitness and conditioning also left a lot to be desired. After the final whistle, the youngsters were seen posing for pictures with their Pirates idols after the match.
Even though they were playing at home, Crystal Lake did not even compete or show some fighting spirit. They rolled over and allowed the star-studded Pirates side to bulldoze them and give them a whipping. But having said that, Pirates started with a strong lineup to avoid the humiliating defeat they suffered against Maluti FET College in the same competition in 2014.
After a rat-a-tat spell in the opening stages, Crystal Lake goalkeeper Excellent Mkhonto, who was having a nightmare between the posts, was taken out of his misery when he was replaced by Busani Mabunda after the fourth goal.
Floodgates opened early
Pirates opened the floodgates as early as the fourth minute via Olisah Ndah’s scrambled goal. Tapelo Xoki made it 2-0 and it Relebohile Mofokeng increased the lead to 3-0 inside the first 11 minutes. Patrick Maswanganyi scored the fourth goal before Xoki grabbed his brace to make it 5-0. Tshegofatsho Mabasa fired the final nail into the coffin with the Buccaneers’ sixth goal.
In other Nedbank fixtures played on Friday, Stellenbosch FC knocked out Pretoria Callies via penalty kicks, while TS Galaxy edged Golden Arrows 2-1.
