Cape Town – Orlando Pirates responded superbly to the twin threat of travel fatigue and fierce rivalry with a composed display, before their goalkeeper Brighton Mhlongo delivered the coup de grâce to claim the 2015 Carling Black Label Cup championship in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Mhlongo saved twice during the penalty shoot-out which was required to separate the teams who had scored a goal each during regulation 90-minute play, and Pirates triumphed 4-3 for a fourth title in five editions of an event that is regarded as the annual curtain-raiser to herald the new season in South Africa.
Eric Tinkler, Pirates’ coach, said after the fiercely contested Soweto Derby his charges had battled gamely through the off-season when, instead of enjoying a break, they were campaigning in Africa, competing in the in the Caf (Confederation of African Football) Confederations Cup competition.
“To be honest, it’s been extremely difficult and a lot of it has been due to the travel. It took us 30 hours to get back (earlier in the week) from Tunisia and that has an effect on the body, especially professional footballers like ours,” said Tinkler.
Right now fatigue is a concern even though we tried to rest the players as much as we could.
“It’s been a fantastic occasion, the vibe was phenomenal and extremely nerve-wracking for the players. We could see that in the way they started the game.”
The team’s exhausting programme in recent times took its toll on players as they succumbed to injury, before and during the game.
“We’re disappointed to lose (Thamsanqa) Gabuza after we lost Kermit Erasmus, both due to hamstring strains, and I really think it comes from the traveling. We tried to rest them – they didn’t train for two days, yet they’re still feeling the fatigue. Hopefully, we can improve on the travel arrangements in the future.”
Tinkler said he was pleased that he could field a few Pirates debutants in the white-hot cauldron of the Soweto derby.
“Pirates had a few debutants here today, Thamsanqa Gabuza, Brighton Mhlongo, Tendai Ndoro, Luvuyo Memela and Edwin Gyimah. They are all guys who have never experienced the (Soweto) derby so it gave us a good opportunity to see them (in action). It also gave us a good idea what will happen come the start of the PSL League,” said Tinkler.
“When you’ve made new signings you want to see how they adapt to playing in such a big stadium, in front of so many spectators. Do they have that ability, both physically and psychologically, is what you’d like to see in a hostile environment.
“We are going to be playing a game almost every three days from now and we have to keep on performing well, all the time.”
Steve Komphela was his usual philosophical self after his team surrendered the bragging rights in Soweto.
“From our side there are two things we’re looking at, we’re looking at the level of fitness and we’re looking at performance. We all know there are no friendly games between these two teams but if you were to ask me, there are more plusses for us (coming out of this game),” said Komphela.
“We’ve seen quite a lot that we’ve been working on. There’s a lot that we can build on and we’re looking forward to the beginning of the season because this sets the tone for the new season.
“It was a good spectacle for the fans. But, it doesn’t take away the emotions from the match.”
Kaizer Chiefs return to FNB Stadium to play their PSL season opener on Wednesday when they face Komphela’s former club Maritzburg United in the MTN8 Cup quarter-finals.
Pirates host Ajax Cape Town on Tuesday at the Orlando Stadium, also in a MTN8 Cup quarter-final clash.
ANA