Seconds before Pirates saw red

MQONDISI DUBE
Staff Writer | Friday March 5, 2010 00:00

 

The burden was on one man to transform things on the field. GU coach, Manfred Chabinga looked desolate on the bench but he had not run out of ideas. In fact, he was plotting the downfall of the Mighty Buccaneers.

He rubbed his hands with glee when he saw his opposite number, Rudolf Krol pulling out his potent midfield players midway through the second half. Chabinga, whose Zambian surname means hunter in English, knew he had to move in for the kill.

Pirates were there for the taking as they had paralysed their midfield which had until Krol's substitutions been the team's mainstay.

The Zambian immediately threw bearded attacking midfielder, Steven Maposa into the fray. He was joined by Vincent Phiri and Otlaadisa 'TRX' Mohambi as Chabinga withdrew Mamunika Mayinga, Sageby Sandaka and Tshepo 'Schoolboy' Molefe.

Pirates who were on top, were suddenly back-pedalling. Roles were reversed as GU increased their raids on the home side's goal.

In the 86th minute, the game turned on its head as Phiri lofted a corner kick, which was turned home by Pirates' striker, Katlego Mashego. With the score at 2-1, Chabinga said he knew that GU were back in the game.  'Pirates thought they had won the game but we never gave up. When their coach made substitutions we saw gaps, as they had dominated us in midfield,' Chabinga said.

He said Pirates attacked furiously in the opening stages looking for goals to kill the game. The man, who arrived from Swaziland mid-season, said the same applied to GU when they were 2-0 down.

'We went out in search of a goal that would bring us back into the game. We exploited their weakness in set-pieces,' Chabinga said.

Moments after GU's first goal, Chabinga could see that the balance in the game had tilted. He watched in joy as Maposa connected with another Phiri corner to send GU to the next round of the competition. The Pirates' storm died as GU's jubilations erupted.

Chabinga said the result ranks among the best in his career, which has been largely spent in Swaziland. Twice he has led a club to the CAF Champions League and come unstuck at the first hurdle. This time round, he managed to clear the first hurdle and the quality of the opposition made his progress sweeter, he said.

Chabinga has set his sights on making it to the group stage of the lucrative competition, where even a goal is rewarded.  GU's next opponents, Curepipe of Mauritius are a closed book to the coach although they have been participating in CAF competitions for sometime.

'We don't know anything about them but we can't underrate them. We were never given any chance against Pirates as we were unknown to them but we caused an upset,' Chabinga said.