Yesterday’s victory against Polokwane City in the MTN8 quarterfinals was a special day for many wearing the black and white colours of Orlando Pirates for the first time, but the afternoon belonged most of all to Ashwin Appollis.
Not only did he open the scoring in the 15th minute — against his former club — but Appollis was deservedly named Man of the Match. He was fouled inside the area, which led to a penalty converted by Patrick Maswanganyi for the second goal.
“Without my teammates, I wouldn’t get this award. This award is going to the whole team,” Appollis said after the game.
“It’s very strange [playing against his former team] but I had to move, and I’m happy to be here at Orlando Pirates. We have been working hard the whole week, even in Spain, so everything just came together today.”
There was also plenty of entertainment for the Bucs faithful who filled this venue to capacity as they welcomed new coach Abdeslam Ouaddou and some of the club’s new recruits.
The Moroccan-born mentor saw his team seamlessly seal a place in the semifinal in a match wrapped up in the first half in which Appollis and other new signings Sihle Nduli and Sipho Mbule repaid him for his confidence in starting with them in their first official match for Pirates.
Nduli, Mbule and Appollis were not the only new Pirates players in the match-day squad. Yanela Mbuthuma, Tshepo Mashiloane, Tshepang Moremi, Abdoulaye Mariko, Komogela Sebelebele and Cerram Dansin were on the bench.
Surprisingly, there was no place in the Bucs starting line-up for familiar faces like Thalente Mbatha, Makhehlene Makhaula, Deano van Rooyen and Simphiwe Selepe. While it is known that Makhaula, who won the Betway Premiership Midfielder of the Season Award for last season, is recovering from an injury, it was quite startling to see Ouaddou leave so many other regulars on the stands.
But it’s a new dawn at Pirates, and maybe the new coach wanted to stamp his authority from the word go. He wasted no time to show that his predecessor Jose Riveiro’s reign — which saw Pirates win this competition a record three successive times — is over.
Appollis slotted his goal past City’s keeper Brian Biwire after being put through by Boitumelo Radiopane, the only player Ouaddou deployed as a target man.
The goal came as the Limpopo visitors looked stifled when the likes of Mbule, Maswanganyi and Relebohile Mofokeng took control with their incisive moves and passes.
Indeed, Mbule and Maswanganyi put on a show. For instance, Maswanganyi was not only the scorer but also the instigator of the second goal. He had played Mofokeng through, and the winger crossed for Appollis, who was roughly tackled by Monty Batlhabane in the 34th minute, just as he was creating space to double the lead.
Pirates did, however, look vulnerable on the counter, especially because Nduli tended to play high upfield when, in fact, he was expected to shield the defence.
With the signing of Appollis and Moremi, it became clear that Pirates were ready for the departure of Mohau Nkota, who was snapped up by Al-Ettifaq FC of Saudi Arabia. When Appollis suffered cramps early in the second half, Ouaddou responded by bringing on Moremi.
Mbuthuma too got a decent run on his debut after replacing a tired looking Radiopane as Appollis was withdrawn. Mbuthuma could have tripled the lead a few seconds after coming on, as he was put through by Maswanganyi but he failed to react and punish the visitors.
The former Richards Bay striker nearly made amends a few minutes before the end when his shot was cleared off the line as Pirates finished stronger.
Kabelo Dlamini and Malian midfielder Mariko came on for Maswanganyi and Mbule as Ouaddou looked to manage and protect their lead in the dying minutes.
While Ouaddou’s era began with a comfortable win, it may be too early to judge whether he will surpass what Riveiro did — winning five domestic cups but failing to capture the Premiership — which Pirates last won in 2012.
Scorers: Pirates - Oswin Appollis (15m); Patrick Maswanganyi (34m)
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