Team brilliance and persistence were some of the ingredients that led to Young Pirates securing a spot in the Safa Cape Town Coca-Cola Cup quarter-finals.
Young Pirates, from the Heideveld LFA, have been one of the dangerous sides to look out for in this season’s Coke Cup action.
In their opening match of the men’s senior division, they put seven unanswered goals past Bayhill United.
In the last 32, Young Pirates won 7-3 against Bellville United.
This past Sunday, September 8, Young Pirates won 6-3 against favourites on the day, Montague Spurs, from Grassy Park.
The encounter, however, was no walkover.
Alphonso Roman scored the first goal with a good finish for Young Pirates. Shiraaj Davids scored the second goal with a good header. They led 2-0 at half-time.
Young Pirates’ coach Roger Fortune said they prepared well for the tough encounter.
“We knew it’s going to be a difficult match. We know quite a few of their players. So we knew it would be a tight match although the scoreline says 6-3. It was a lot tighter. We took our chances well,” said Fortune.
In the second half, Montague Spurs came out fired up, scoring two quick goals to level matters.
Spurs’ first goal was by Ethan Benjamin, before Zeandre Van Niekerk scored a screamer outside of the box to put Spurs back in the race.
Young Pirates’ Roman then scored a spectacular overhead kick to put the Heideveld side back in the lead (3-2). Taahir Jumat made it 4-2 scoring a superb header.
Montague Spurs responded with a stunning free kick from Toufiek Isaacs to pull another goal back to make it 4-3, but their celebrations were brief as it turned out to be their final goal of the campaign.
The turning point came when Moosa Jacobs received a second yellow card, and the situation quickly unraveled for Spurs.
“Our set-up was right. The wind played in their favour in the first half. In the second half we had them before we got the red card. I still feel we were the better team on the day irrespective of the result,” said Montague Spurs coach Munzir Dalvie.
Young Pirates’ Fortune said they ran right through the middle of the park, to score two more goals by Davids and Shamiel Assur, to ensure the 6-3 win.
“It was well taken goals by them. My team shifted gear. We tried to cut out their long passes. When Moosa got the second yellow they lost it. When he went off, we ran right straight through the middle,” he said.
Fortune said they look forward to their next encounter in the quarter-finals against Tafelzucht on Sunday, September 29.
“Our 12th man (the fans) is one of the reasons we try to uplift the community. When the youngsters see their superheroes play they want to be like them and play sport too,” said Fortune.
