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Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates face an away day in Cape Town on Friday when they take on Ajax in the Absa Premiership, but will be mindful that the Mother City has not been a happy hunting ground for them in recent years.
The Buccaneers’ skipper Lucky Lekgwathi was quick to brush off the team’s record in Cape Town as ‘history’ but it is hard to ignore a pattern that has seen the side manage just one in their last 12 away days in the city against Ajax and Santos.
Pirates have recorded just one win against Ajax in their last six visits, and have not beaten Santos in any of their previous six games against The People’s Team in Cape Town.
They did manage a 2-1 defeat of Vasco da Gama on the opening day of the 2010/11 campaign which does improve their record slightly.
They have also been goal-shy in League matches in the city in that time, managing just seven in 12 games, while they have conceded more than double that with 15 goals against.
“I spoke to the boys and we know what we have to do. Records of the past do not win anybody a game; we will go to Cape Town and fight to collect three points and try to have a comfortable lead,” Lekgwathi told his club’s website.
But the memories of a 3-0 loss to Ajax towards the tail-end of last season and a 3-0 defeat at Santos earlier this campaign will do little to boost the confidence of the side.
Pirates currently lead the Absa Premiership by two points from second-place Mamelodi Sundowns, with Ajax having fallen off the pace in recent months.
