Orlando Pirates hopped to the final of the Carling Knockout competition after their hard-fought 1-0 win over a stubborn Richards Bay United at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier this season, Pirates reached the final of the MTN8 where they trounced Stellenbosch FC 3-0 in Mbombela. Now they await the winners of the other semifinal between Golden Arrows and Marumo Gallants who will exchange sweat at the King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Sunday.
Saturday’s semifinal was played in front of a jam-packed crowd after the venue was sold-out on Friday night. The fans came to the party and created a raucous atmosphere, with most of the fans, expectedly, cheering for the Buccaneers. The game may have lacked goals, but there was plenty of excitement for the supporters with the two teams dishing out an entertaining brand of football throughout the 90 minutes.
Pirates dominated the boys from Empangeni and created a number of scoring opportunities, but they were not clinical in front of goals. Yanela Mbuthuma, Tshepang Moremi and Oswin Appollis were the main culprits who failed to find the target and give Bucs the lead. Pirates’ opponents also had a sniff or two at goal, but they did not really threaten the Bucs’ defence and goalkeeper Sipho Chaine.
Slender lead clinches it for Bucs
Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou’s boys opened the scoring on the stroke of halftime via the boot of Moremi, who redeemed himself after missing a couple of goals. Moremi connected to a sublime, diagonal pass from Appollis and he fired home the winner, beating goalkeeper Ian Otieno hands down.
In the second half, Pirates coach Ouaddou made a tactical change when he introduced Relebohile Mofokeng and Thabiso Lebitso. The duo added some spark, but they could not penetrate the well-organised Bay defence. However, their introduction stabilised the Pirates’ midfield, and the team held on to their slender lead until the final whistle.
