How a newspaper jibe helped Spurs take down Pirates

Cape Town Spurs midfielder Keagan Buchanan says his side were motivated to beat Orlando Pirates on Wednesday by a newspaper article suggesting this was just a “warm-up” game for the Buccaneers’ Carling Black Label Cup quarterfinal against Richards Bay.

Spurs stunned the Buccaneers at the Cape Town Stadium, winning 2-1 to pick up their first points of the season, after losing their opening eight DStv Premiership matches.

“It was a matter of applying ourselves,” Buchanana told SuperSport TV after picking up the Man-of-the-Match Award.

“First and foremeost we had to give them (Pirates) respect, they are a quality team, but we also had to show them we were not intimidated.

“A newspaper article said this was just a warm up game for Pirates, and the coach put the article up in the dressing room and said ‘is this what you want?’ We needed to show we belong in this league, it is not nice to come in and lose eight games. We need to show we can not just survive, but that we can play football (too).”

Spurs took an early two goal lead on Wednesday and while Pirates pulled a goal back just before half time, the Urban Warriors hung on for the three points.

‘Massive win’

“It is a massive win,” added the former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder.

“A big step forward …. credit to the boys and the ownership for staying positive. This is a reward for all the hard work in every training session. We have been reminding the young boys (in the squad) that we can turn it around. This (Pirates) is a quality, well coached team, there is nothing better than kickstarting the season with a victory over a big team like Pirates.”