Lebone Seema's strike fires Orlando Pirates to victory over Orbit College

ORLANDO PIRATES 1 (0)  Seema 56’

ORBIT COLLEGE 0 

Orlando Pirates recorded their second successive victory in the Betway Premiership after beating Orbit College 1–0 at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Buccaneers were not at their best — particularly in the first half — but still did enough to claim all three points at home. This win lifted Pirates up to seventh on the log with six points, following their first league triumph against Stellenbosch at the same venue a week ago.

Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou is slowly mastering the art of grinding out results even when his team is below par — something that will surely ease the pressure on him.

Pirates came into this clash riding high after knocking out Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 semi-final, but Ouaddou and his charges knew they couldn’t dwell on that result. They needed to maintain their winning momentum in the league — and they did just that, with defender Lebone Seema’s second-half strike proving decisive.

Pirates could have scored more, but they struggled to make meaningful inroads into Orbit’s final third, with striker Tshegofatso Mabasa often forced to drop deep. The Sea Robbers also lacked sharpness in attack without Relebohile Mofokeng, who was left out of the matchday squad amid rumours of a potential overseas move.

Kamogelo Sebelebele, who came into the game on the back of scoring in three successive matches, was unusually quiet for most of the night.

After a sluggish first half, it was the visitors who nearly snatched the lead before the break. Goalkeeper Sipho Chaine’s poor clearance fell to Siyabulela Mabele, who fired a shot at goal — but Chaine recovered brilliantly to parry it away for a corner, as Orbit threatened.

Looking to take control, Ouaddou made a triple substitution at half-time, including the introduction of fan-favourite Sipho Mbule in midfield. The MasterChef, as Mbule is affectionately known, tried to serve up incisive passes, but there was little end product.

It took a thunderous strike from Seema in the 56th minute to finally break the deadlock. The defender latched onto a loose ball outside the box and unleashed a scorching drive into the net.

The duel between Mabele and Chaine continued in the second half, with the Pirates No.1 again coming out on top as he pushed away the attacker’s piledriver for another corner.

Sebelebele almost sealed the result late on, but his close-range shot was cleared off the line by an Orbit defender, with goalkeeper Sekhoane Moerane stranded.

Pirates held firm for the victory, while Orbit — missing Monnapule Saleng, who was ineligible to face his parent club — suffered back-to-back defeats.