Mandla Ncikazi, who is holding the Orlando Pirates coaching reigns on an interim basis, has issued his assessment of academy product Siyabonga Dladla, who marked his debut with a clean sheet against SuperSport United.
Pirates returned to winning form with a hard-fought 1-0 win over SuperSport at New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday.
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With second spot fof 2024/25 already secured, Ncikazi could be forgiven for being a bit experimental with his selection, particularly with goalkeeper Sipho Chaine injured.
It was unsurprising, then, to see development product Dladla handed his senior team debut, whose performnace attracted rave reviews on social media.
Speaking to media in Polokwane, Ncikazi had a glowing review of the 24-year-old.
"Happy for the young players, that we could give them an opportunity," Ncikazi said in the post-match press conference.
"Another one that we could give an opportunity to today - Siya, the goalkeeper. He had a good performance, but we were playing game number 50, and we knew that physically it was going to tell toward the end.
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"I'm just that proud that the players pulled through," he went on.
The Buccaneers play the second-last game of their campaign against AmaZulu FC at Moses Mabhida Stadium (15:00).
