Ertugral reign starts on a high at Bucs

The KZN team had actually enjoyed the better of the exchanges in a goal-less first half but were punished for their inability to convert chances as Ndoro continued his fine form of the latter stages of last season into the new campaign.

Pirates had the first chance on three minutes when Oupa Manyisa got onto the end of a clearance, smashing a volley goalwards, but Arrows keeper Maximilian Mbaeva did well to tip the ball over the bar.

Arrows took a while to get going, but did begin to threaten the Pirates goal midway through the half, a dangerous Lerato Lamola run nearly leading to a goal-scoring chance, after which Kudakwashe Mahachi fired a powerful effort straight at Felipe Ovono and then sent a curling shot not far wide of the far post.

Wayde Jooste also had a great chance to score for the visitors when he sprinted clear down the right on 35 minutes, but he lacked composure in front of goal and fired wide at the near post from 12-yards out.

The Buccaneers were to come to life in the final five minutes before the break, an exciting build-up leading to a chance for Thabo Rakhale which was fired over the goal, before Ghana striker Bernard Morrison came close to catching Mbaeva off his line with an audacious chip from just inside the Arrows half.

Moments before the break Lamola squandered a great chance when he got his angles wrong after Arrows had picked open the Pirates defence.

But having enjoyed the better of the first half chances, Arrows were to find themselves a goal down after 48 minutes when some blistering interplay between Rakhale and Mpho Makola ended with the former crossing for Ndoro who turned the ball in from close range.

But their lead was only to last 12 minutes, Nduduzo Sibiya scoring after Mahachi’s shot had hit the upright, the chance arising after Ovono had blundered in trying to deal with a fairly routine cross.

However, Bucs were on top once more just six minutes later, Ndoro powering in a header from Makola’s pin-point free kick in the 66th minute.

Ndoro’s third goal arrived with 15 minutes to play and was a world class effort, the Zimbabwean taking the ball in his stride as he turned on the edge of the box before showing the quickest of feet to steer the ball into the top corner.

The game marked a first competitive win for new Bucs head coach Muhsin Ertugral, who will see his team on top of the standings tomorrow morning. It also marked the end of a legendary career after Lucky Lekgwathi announced his retirement, the former club captain paraded on the field before kick-off following his decision to retire after nearly two decades in the game.