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Tinkler sees 'turning point'

Cape Town - Orlando Pirates caretaker coach Eric Tinkler is convinced his side's 4-0 Premiership win over Ajax Cape Town on Saturday is a "turning point" for the Soweto giants this season.

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The Buccaneers put on a dominant second-half display at the Orlando Stadium this weekend as an own goal from Anssi Jaakkola and strikes from Lehlohonolo Majoro, Kermit Erasmus and Siyabonga Sangweni sealed the emphatic win.

The result was only enough to lift Pirates to fifth in the standings, still some 18 points adrift of leaders Kaizer Chiefs, but Tinkler believes the Sea Robbers can now look ahead to the second half of the campaign with plenty of belief and optimism.

"It was vitally important that we got this result to ensure that we turn our season around. I think this is the turning point for the team and I see us doing well for the rest of the season," Tinkler said after the game.

"We are on 22 points now after 15 matches which really means we are eight behind our target at this stage. So it's a massive gap if I have to be entirely honest.

"But it is still achievable and I explained to the players that we have two more games to go before the break, and it is vitally important that we win both games.

"When I took over at the team, it was basically five games till the Christmas break.

"It's important that we got at least 10 points from the 15 available. That was the target, so we must win our next two next games to achieve that target."

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