Orlando Pirates secured a winning start to their title defense in the Betway Premiership, achieving a confident 2-0 victory over the top-division newcomers, Milford FC. The match took place on Saturday at the Orlando Amstel Arena stadium.
The first goal was scored by Oswin Apollo midway through the first half. Later, Tshepang Moremi scored the second goal in the 86th minute, allowing coach Abdelsalam Waddu to maintain maximum points at the beginning of the new season.
Betway Premiership
After Relebokhile Mofokeng moved to play in Belgium, most of the attacking burden for Pirates this season is expected to fall on Oswin Apollo, and the Bafana Bafana winger quickly made his mark. His free-kick in the 24th minute deflected off the Milford wall and went past the goalkeeper, becoming the first goal of the new Betway Premiership season.
Abdelsalam Waddu mainly relied on the core squad that won the league title last season, although young player Cameron Dansing unexpectedly featured in central midfield. Meanwhile, Milford showed no signs of being intimidated by their Premier League debut. The visitors demonstrated encouraging periods of ball possession in the first half and looked comfortable overcoming Pirates' press when opportunities arose. They also created several promising moments without causing serious problems for Sifo Cheyne.
Despite prolonged dominance in ball possession, Pirates struggled to break down Milford's compact defensive setup. Ultimately, Apollo's deflected free-kick was the decisive factor between the teams before halftime, giving the defending champions a slight advantage going into the break.
It was anticipated that Pirates' tempo would increase after the restart, but the second half proceeded similarly. The Buccaneers dominated possession but failed to create many clear scoring chances, while Milford maintained discipline and organization in defense. The home team had to wait until the hour mark before threatening the goal again, when Deon Hotto was stopped by an excellent save from the Milford goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation.
Waddu's disappointment was evident on the bench, as he demanded more urgency and clearer movements from the players, which sometimes still resembled pre-season training. Milford continued to frustrate the defending champions and briefly threatened a tense finish before Pirates finally found their second, decisive goal. Moremi received a perfectly timed pass behind him, leaving him half the field to run towards the goal. The winger remained calm, bypassed the advancing goalkeeper, and calmly slotted the ball into the empty net in the 86th minute, definitively deciding the outcome of the match.
Although Pirates may not have displayed the smoothest performance, they managed to secure three points and a clean slate to start the title defense. Milford, for its part, can draw encouragement from the disciplined play in their debut match, but they left without silverware after being punished by two high-class moments from the defending champions. In the near future, Pirates will focus on defending their MTN8 title, as the next match in that tournament is against Durban City.
