Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Orlando Pirates find themselves in the unenviable position of having to fight to retain their match fitness at a time when the domestic football season is in recess.
Read: Sangweni, Makola out of CAF clash
However, the Buccaneers are firmly focused on the task at hand which commenced with playing two friendly matches against the Vaal University Team.
The first match took place in the morning, with the Buccaneers winning 2-0 courtesy of a brace from Thabo Matlaba, who scored in the first and second half respectively.
The second match which was also played over a 90 minute period, confirmed the visitor’s dominance over their hosts when Thamsanqa Gabuza secured victory for the Buccaneers by scoring the solitary goal of the second encounter.
Head Coach Eric Tinkler was pleased with the Team’s performance and overall fitness levels ahead of the team’s CAF second leg encounter against AS Kaloum.
“The objective was simply to give the guys some game-time and give everybody an opportunity to play,” said Tinkler to the clubs official website.
“Everybody was professional in their application but this was also an opportunity to create a good outing to get the boys away as a group in order to create a fun environment for the players.
“We are happy in the end because it was objective reached, we got a competitive game and the guys played well scoring three goals in the process.”
“The key objectives were about keeping our shape, playing within our lines whether we play the 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 formation it is always about keeping our lines.
“It was about remaining nice and compact because the movement and shifting defensively is vitally importantly and from there we focused on the transition from defense to attack when we win the ball.”
