Pirates cruise to the next round of the Caf Champions League - TimesLIVE

Inexperience nearly ruined Orlando Pirates’ ambitions in the Caf Champions League as they had to dig deep to beat Mauritian minnows La Cure Waves SC 3-1 in the second leg of the first round play-off at Amstel Arena in Orlando on Saturday.

Pirates were under pressure to win this match to progress to the second preliminary round after a 0-0 draw against La Cure in the first leg away last Sunday.

There was panic in the Bucs camp after La Cure took an unlikely lead in the 6th minute when Sipho Chaine’s poor clearance gave Jean Ami a chance to put the visitors ahead. Chaine, the only Pirates player in Abdeslam Ouaddou’s line-up with experience in this competition, saw his clearance blocked by Ami who tapped the ball into an empty net.

But Pirates quickly regrouped and managed to get not just the equaliser in the 8th minute but scored two more goals to go to the interval with a deserved 3-1 lead.

Pirates were able to make short passes inside La Cure’s half and it was during those build-ups that Kabelo Kgositsile cancelled La Cure’s lead after exchanging passes with Simphiwe Masilela on the left flank.

The second goal came from the right side of the field where Kgositsile and Kamogelo Sebelebele proved to be a handful for the visitors. Sebelebele finally gave Pirates the lead in the 25th minute before Yanela Mbuthuma gave Ouaddou’s team more hope of progress after heading in Thapelo Mokobodi’s corner kick in the 37th minute.

But it will be a stretch to expect this Pirates side to go much further in this competition as Ouaddou has a tough task to rebuild a side which has seen most of its stalwarts snapped up by overseas clubs before the start of the current campaign.

In Ouaddou’s starting XI only Chaine and Oswin Appollis had the experience of playing on the continent as most of the Pirates players are in their debut season with the Soweto giants. But there’s some hope of Pirates at least making the group stages as they will face either African Stars of Namibia or AS Manga Sport of Gabon.

But for that to happen they will have to improve as they failed in the second half of this match to add more goals despite a plethora of substitutions by Ouaddou and playing against greenhorns making their debut in this competition.