Pirates looking to down Swallows in ‘original’ Soweto derby

The clash against Swallows FC couldn’t have come at a better time for Orlando Pirates following a positive result in their previous game and some sterling performances from the likes of Bandile Shandu.

The ‘original’ Soweto derby is set to take place at the Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday.

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The versatile Shandu, who can play at defence and as a right attacking midfielder, is set to be on of the key players for Pirates in this clash. His ability to attack and defend makes him one of the dangerous players in the Pirates attack.

As the Buccaneers have been struggling with consistency in terms of getting maximum points in their past few games, Shandu was one of the players who stood up in their last game against TS Galaxy, which Pirates ended up winning 2-0 at the Orlando Stadium last weekend.

The former Maritzburg United player scored his first goal for the club, as he gave the Buccaneers a lead early on in the game, before Collins Makgaka doubled the scoreline in the second half.  Shandu walked away with the man-of-the-match accolade and reveals that the Bucs technical staff never lost hope in the way the team played despite the fact that they were not winning their games.

“We really needed the three points, and I think it showed by the way we fought, the way we played and the fighting spirit. We kept on fighting, we kept a clean sheet and it showed that we needed it more and we wanted it more,” said Shandu.

“The coaches have kept us calm and collected because we haven’t been playing badly, we were just not scoring. I think we just needed to score. It showed in the second half because we kept the ball nicely, we had very good moments and it was a good game.”

Pirates and Swallows matches have been quite entertaining in the last two seasons, but Bucs will be more confident going into this tie than their neighbours.

The Birds have been struggling this campaign and they are in position 14 on the log with 12 points after 15 games having lost 1-0 to Marumo Gallants in their last game.