Pirates break cup jinx
FINALLY | Buccaneers succeed where they have failed three times previously this season Coach Vladimir Vermezovic gets the better of Gavin Hunt
IT took a man named Romeo to help Pirates coach Vladimir Vermezovic deliver a belated Valentine’s Day gift and heal the Bucs fans from a seemingly incurable fall-at-the-final-hurdle disease.
Appointed on Valentine’s Day, taking over an outfit which had failed to win three finals, the Serb pleaded with his players to reach the final of the Nedbank Cup and leave the rest to him.
He delivered sensationally, striking a blow at opposite number Gavin Hunt, who was competing for the third consecutive time in this competition that brings the curtain down on the domestic soccer season.
Hunt was looking to make it two wins out of three but came unstuck as Vermezovic masterminded a crushing come-frombehind Nedbank Cup final heist.
It was a heartbreak job that came with R7-million. Wits had to settle for R2.5-million and silver medals.
Trailing to a Jabulani Shongwe first-half strike, Vermezovic, known for not being shy of telling his players that they don’t have balls when they don’t deliver, must have handed his players the mother of all bollockings as they returned in a militant mood.
Kermit Romeo Erasmus rifled past Moeneeb Josephs off an Oupa Manyisa delivery to gain parity and breathe fire into his side. Manyisa was in a mood to tame alligators as he teased and toyed with Wits before setting up the second goal, scored by Wits old boy Sifiso Myeni in the 62nd minute.
Romeo returned to hammer in the final nail 10 minutes later to complete the miseducation of the Clever Boys.
When Pirates lined up to perform their traditional pre-match skull and bones salute to The Ghost, Wits players mockingly joined in. The Students were striking a psychological blow, cognisant that their support was a mere drop in an ocean of Sea Robbers on the stands.
Their heroes trotted from the tunnel bedecked in red and white, ready for battle.
Pirates had a chance to chomp Wits like the world famous Durban bunny chow, but they choked when their opponents had “eat us” written all over them. With the match only two minutes young, Mpho Makola dished up a delicious defencesplitting pass that saw the Wits rearguard collapse like the bib- lical walls of Jericho. Erasmus pounced and sliced through Onismor Bhasera like a shredder through paper.
One-on-one with Wits’s Moeneeb Josephs, Erasmus suffered an attack of general anxiety disorder when he went for glory — Josephs blocked the shot — when passing to unmarked Daine Klate would have given Pirates the lead. Vermezovic must have felt like sending Erasmus for mental observation.
Wits survived the storm and when they got their chance they went for the kill, Shongwe slotting home from close range after hesitant defending by Lucky Lekgwathi and company.
Wits sought to double the damage after the break, S’thembiso Ngcobo forcing a save off Meyiwa from a free kick. The dominant Bucs crowd set the rolling-hand signal in motion, demanding a Bucs substitution.
They were rewarded with three goals to sign off the 201314 campaign with success.