Appollis scorcher sees Pirates sneak past Siwelele

Oswin Appollis came off the bench to rescue Orlando Pirates yesterday, as they picked up a scrappy 1-0 Betway Premiership win over Siwelele FC at the Free State Stadium.

Appollis came on at half time, and added some spark to Pirates’ attack, though the Buccaneers were hardly banging down Siwelele’s door as the game entered the final ten minutes.

The Bafana forward, however, produced an excellent finish, his first Premiership goal for Pirates this season, to go with one in the MTN8 and another in the CAF Champions League.

A rather dull first half saw few chances for either side. 

In the 8th minute, Deon Hotto delivered a good cross from the left, and Relebohile Mofokeng looked set to pounce but sliced his shot off-target. 

In the 15th minute, Yandisa Mfolozi sent in a fine cross, but striker Chibuike Ohizu put a free header wide. 

Pirates were unable to get their slick football flowing in the Free State. One nice interchange of passes did see Patrick Maswanganyi find Kamogelo Sebelebele racing to the byline. But Sebelebele’s cut-back went straight to a Celtic defender. 

Just before the break the Buccaneers almost shot themselves in the foot as Lebone Seema tried to clear the ball but swiped thin air. 

Former Pirates forward Vincent Pule stole in, but his tame effort was easy for Sipho Chaine. 

Ouaddou could not have been happy with what he was watching, and he brought on Appollis for the second half, along with young attacking midfielder Cemrin Dansin.

In the 47th minute Sebelebele found some space on the edge of the box, but he could not hit the target with his shot.

Celtic then moved forward and in the 51st minute, Ghampani Lungu was just unable to get his head to Pule’s cross, Mbekezeli Mbokazi getting in a vital clearance.

In the 57th minute, Appollis did well to find Mofokeng, and his sharp turn and shot flew just wide of Ricardo Goss’ near post.

Ouaddou also brought on the hero of the MTN8 final Tshepang Moremi. Hee won a free kick on the edge of the box in the 76th minute that Appollis curled just over.

And Pirates did get their goal in the 80th minute. Mofokeng slid a ball through and Appollis produced a brilliant finish from just inside the area.

Celtic substitute Christian Saile had a good chance for Siwelele a few minutes later, but his header did not have enough power on it and Chaine made an easy stop.