Sekhukhune take encouragement from third straight defeat by Orlando Pirates

Sekhukhune United manager Masehe says his side can take valuable lessons from their three matches against Orlando Pirates, despite a third consecutive defeat by the defending champions in the space of eight days.

Their MTN8 campaign ended with a 3-0 loss at the Orlando Amstel Arena, completing a 4-0 aggregate defeat after Pirates had also won the first leg in Polokwane.

The result followed a 1-0 Betway Premiership loss to the Buccaneers in midweek. Sekhukhune had therefore been beaten by Pirates in both legs of their MTN8 tie, as well as in their league meeting, but Masehe believes the performances contained enough encouragement to suggest his players are making progress.

He highlighted the way Sekhukhune improved after the interval in each of the three encounters, particularly in their use of possession and their ability to create opportunities.

“The aspect that I think we did well from the first match that we played against Pirates the first leg of the MTN8 in the second half how we controlled posessesion of the ball and how we then penetrated them and created some chances although they weren’t that many,” said Masehe

He added that the league fixture brought further evidence of that improvement, while the final match again saw Sekhukhune create chances after the break.

“But the league game that we played we created a lot of chances also in the second half so even today it was evident in the second half we did much better we created a whole lot of chances and we also had to take the risk of committing numbers forward. And with the subs and the impact that they had from the bench they were bound to catch us here and there and we had to try everything to try and get a goal back.”

Masehe said Pirates’ superior quality in important areas of the pitch had frequently been decisive during the three games. He also accepted that Sekhukhune did not always react effectively when instructions were changed from the bench.

The defeat means Orlando Pirates have reached a fifth consecutive MTN8 final, underlining the challenge Sekhukhune faced against the competition’s defending champions.

Sekhukhune are also operating in a period of significant change under coach Cedric Kaze. Former captain Linda Mntambo has retired, while Bradley Grobler, Thabang Monare and several other experienced players left during the off-season as the club reshaped its squad.

Masehe believes those departures are important context when judging the team’s results and performances. The club are now combining younger players with new arrivals, and he says that development cannot be completed immediately.

With Babina Noko still working towards a more settled side, the lessons from three defeats against Pirates may prove useful as the new-look squad continues to develop. For now, however, their MTN8 challenge has ended with a heavy aggregate loss, despite signs of greater attacking threat in the second halves of all three matches.