Orlando Pirates match winner Fortune Makaringe had lauded his side's patience and discipline in their narrow 1-0 win over Chippa United on Wednesday evening.
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Yet another late show was required from Josef Zinnbauer's men against the Chilli Boys at the Orlando Stadium, securing a win with their new-found never-say-die attitude.
Bucs had to wait until the 86th minute as they finally breached a stubborn Chippa defence, whose game plan was to absorb as much pressure as possible and hit Pirates on the counter attack. To their credit, their game plan almost worked to perfection, until Makaringe calmly slotted past Ayanda Mtshali, something the midfielder says was bound to happen.
"We fought with the guys, it was difficult, it wasn't easy, and we knew that psychologically, if they were one man short, they could get that superiority against us, so we needed to rectify that today," Makaringe told Pirates' media department after the match.
"We fought, they were closing us but then we knew there would be an opening. We needed to be patient with ourselves and in good time, we'd find our goal, and that's what happened.
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Makaringe says it wasn't difficult for the Buccaneers to shake off the euphoria that came with winning their first trophy in six years, but he credits the technical team for directing their focus towards the matches that lie ahead.
"I wouldn't say it was really that hard because we have a team that is well-structured, we are very professional and it was instilled in our minds that, okay the final is over, we've won, we've celebrated, but we've got another challenge to go to, so we need to put our heads down, be humble and fight for this game that we played," Makaringe concluded.
Wednesday's win sees Pirates move into third place on the DStv Premiership standings while their opponents sit in 14th place having managed just one win in their opening seven matches.
Click through the gallery for images from the match:
