NDORO’S THREESOME LIGHTS UP ORLANDO
Bucs striker hands Ertugral ideal start
ORLANDO Pirates proved that pre-season form can sometimes be deceiving as they romped to a 3-1 win over Golden Arrows courtesy of Tendai Ndoro’s hattrick in their Absa Premiership last night.
The Buccaneers came into the clash on the back of having performed dismally during pre-season, but they put all that behind them with a dominant display against Abafana Bes’thende in their season opener.
Prior to the clash, Pirates head coach Muhsin Ertugral had promised the Bucs supporters that the team will look better than they did in pre-season.
And true to his word, Pirates looked like genuine title contenders but only in the second half.
For a while, Pirates didn’t look like creating chances let alone scoring as they were poor in the final third, particularly in the opening half.
Ertugral, however, was having none of it as he took off the ineffective Bernard Morrison during the break. The Ghanaian paid the price for poor decision-making that resulted in him fumbling most of his runs and by the interval, his time was up as he was replaced by Thabo Qalinge.
The home side came out a complete different side and soon they were on the score sheet and who else, but Ndoro with the opener in the 48th minute after a well-worked move by Mpho Makola and Thabo Rakhale.
Bucs’ good play was momentarily marred by a blunder by goalkeeper Felipe Ovono that allowed Arrows to level matters through Nduduzo Sibiya just after the hour mark.
The Equatorial Guinea shot stopper is reportedly set to be the team’s number one this season ahead of Brighton Mhlongo who was spotted in the stands, while Jackson Mabokgwane made the bench, but Ovono may find himself down in the pecking order again. Pirates were able to regroup and just five minutes later Ndoro put them ahead after showing composurewhen headed home for his brace from a corner by Makola.
The Zimbabwean marksman wasn’t finished though as he completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute with a stunning strike after a clever turn to give Bucs hope for the season after a barren campaign last term.
Meanwhile, a Robert Ng’ambi solitary strike gave Platinum Stars a 1-0 victory over SuperSport United at the Royal Bafokeng last night.
Elsewhere, Maritzburg United’s Kurt Lentjies scored his side’s 1-0 win at Bloemfontein Celtic.