Timm says Pirates didn’t need to panic against a resolute VFA

As tough as the match looked, Orlando Pirates midfielder Miguel Timm says staying calm helped the Buccaneers beat Motsepe Foundation Championship side Venda Football Academy (VFA) 2-1 after extra time in the Nedbank Cup last 16 on Saturday.

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Pirates had to dig really deep to avoid penalties, after the teams were locked at 1-1 at full time courtesy of goals from Kermit Erasmus for Pirates and Edmore Chirambare for VFA. Going into the extra 30 minutes, Timm and the rest of his teammates were finding it hard to unlock a stubborn VFA, who were determined to take the game to penalties.

But, the midfielder says he started sending messages to his colleagues telling them to relax since they have been in this situation before .

Thembinkosi Locrh scored the decisive goal just seven minutes before the end of extra time, booking a place in the quarterfinals of the Ke Yona Cup for the Buccaneers.

“In the last minutes, anything can happen in football and we have the experience to know that. I was just passing the message across to the guys to say that we have the ability to keep calm, we train hard every day andwe work very hard,” said Timm after being named man-of-the-match.

“We also know the different scenarios that we can come up against and this was one of the scenarios, there was no need to panic and fortunately we got the goal before the penalties.”

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Timm, who joined Bucs from Marumo Gallants, also added that the support from the fans of the Sea Robbers have been massive since his arrival.

“Like I have said before, I have had the best support since I arrived here. They (the fans) are very demanding I must say, which is good for us because it forces you to try to be at your best at all times.

“We ask them to continue to be with us through tough times and better times. We have objectives, short term and long term. And them (fans) sticking with us will be a big plus going into the future.”