Lorch admits to tough return after starring role in Pirates win

After a long spell out injured, Orlando Pirates winger Thembinkosi Lorch admitted that he found it difficult to adjust after his first start this campaign, which came with a Man-of-the-Match award against Cape Town Spurs in the last 16 of the Carling Black Label Knockout.

Lorch made his first start of the season for the Buccaneers, with the 30 year-old helping the Soweto giants to a 2-0 victory at Orlando Stadium on Friday.

The Sea Robbers and Spurs were tied at 0-0 in the first half, before Pirates won the game with a penalty from Thapelo Xoki and a second goal form Kermit Erasmus.

Lorch found himself involved in many of the attacks, and thanked coach Jose Riveiro for giving him an opportunity to play.

“First of all I would like to thank the man above for the talent for the talent and opportunity to showcase my talent. It was not easy for me not to be playing for a long time,” said the Bucs winger.

“Especially since the guys were doing well, and it wasn’t easy to just come back and play. I want to thank the coach for the opportunity he gave me.”

Happy to be back home

The Free State-born player was happy to be playing at the Orlando Stadium and says he was overwhelmed with the turnout at the stadium.

“It’s always nice to play in Orlando in front of our supporters. I just needed to be calm and play my normal game. If you saw, I was struggling a bit in the second half,” he added.

“The coach asked me if I want to continue or not in the second half. I told him that I want to continue and he believed in me, so I to thank him also.”

Being voted the man-of-the-match saw Lorch walk away with R100 000, thanks to the fans who voted for him with the tournament giving supporters control over who gets to be voted as the best player in every game.

The winger will see the accolade as a good motivation for him going forward to grab his spot back in the starting line-up for the Buccaneers.