Mabokgwane had been the trusted figure between the sticks in Pirates’ three matches prior to the Derby and looked on course to finally get his first taste of the biggest fixture in South African football since his arrival in 2016.
However, this was not the case as Mpontshane was once again drafted in to help The Buccaneers to a 2-1 Absa Premiership victory at the FNB Stadium.
“Jackson Mabokgwane is a senior player and we do not only count him as an ordinary goalkeeper but as a kind of assistant coach, considering his understanding of whatever we do from the point of theory,” 'Micho' explained.
“But before the match against AmaZulu Mpontshane got injured, Jackson came in and did very well in those matches, and when you look at everything, he satisfied [the team] with his performance standard.
“[Brilliant] Khuzwayo came back and Mpontshane recovered, and [Wayne] Sandilands also played MDC, so we practically had four players in the same line in the race [for the position in the Derby].
“In a photo finish, Mpontshane won due to certain aspects that are deeply technical and unfortunately this directly affected Jackson, but by no means is [it intended in the wrong way].
“He [Mabokgwane] is highly respected, he will have his chance, but we felt that the game needed Mpontshane’s ingredients of goalkeeping that he could bring to the team [such as dealing with] crosses from right and left and so many other things.”