Malesela praises gallant effort after Marumo dump Pirates out of the cup

Marumo Gallants coach Dan Malesela has hailed his players for the brilliant effort they put in in knocking out Orlando Pirates 5-4 on penalties in the last-16 round of the Nedbank Cup on Wednesday night.

Malesela, who captained both Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns in his 1980 playing days, appreciated the resilience shown by his team in a match he admitted could have gone either way before goalkeeper King Ndlovu stepped up to score the winning penalty immediately after making a save in sudden death.   

“The character shown by the boys is so, so huge,” Malesela, whose team are defending champions of this cup, said.

“I also appreciate what the goalkeeper [Ndlovu] did and the bravery to say, ‘Hey guys, I don’t want you to miss any more, let me score my save. I want to redeem my save’.

“It’s good, but let's now focus on March 16 (Marumo host Chippa United in a DStv Premiership match on Wednesday) — let’s forget about this one. I’m also happy that we’re now in the quarterfinals, three games to go, let’s see.”

Malesela admitted it was very difficult to predict how the cup match would go because Pirates looked a better side with all the chances that they created in 120 minutes.

Marumo took the lead via Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo's penalty in the 20th minute and Pirates levelled through the boot of right-back Bandile Shandu 10 minutes later. The match went to extra-time and penalties after it ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

“A very difficult match and it could have gone either way during the 90 minutes. We tried to play a bit in extra time but it could have gone any way,” said Malesela, who beat Kaizer Chiefs with then-GladAfrica Championship outfit TS Galaxy to win this cup in 2019.

“To be fair and honest, Pirates had more chances than we did. We missed some half-chances and we had the most glaring ones.

“But one appreciates that in the end we managed to win the match, albeit via penalties. It doesn’t matter because if you win a match, you win a match.

“I mean we would have liked to win it in the 90 minutes and not go to extra time. But we appreciate the effort that the boys have put in. It was not easy and we hope this will continue.”

What was also pleasing for Malesela was to see his substitutes holding their own and helping the team after a few players had to be replaced after suffering injuries.

“It was very awkward,” said Malesela of the injuries.

“It’s a first of what I’ve seen particularly when we have muscle problems. We usually don’t have those. I think it was very awkward but I think we managed it very well.

“The boys that came on held themselves very well. This is what is needed in a team. You shouldn’t rely only on specific people. The whole team must be able to deal with situations as they come up.”

Malesela would not be drawn on who he would like to meet in the quarterfinals in Monday's draw.

“No, no it doesn’t matter,” he said. “You can’t choose these things.

“If they were done that way I would choose my opponents every other game, but you can’t. Let’s wait and see who’s in and how the draw goes and we'll take it from there.”