The City squad arrived at the Peter Mokabe Stadium to a raucous and friendly welcome outside the ground, which had been filling up since 11am – four hours ahead of kick off!
There was a party atmosphere to mark the 91st birthday of Nelson Mandela, with Djembi drums, horns, thousands of balloons and the world’s loudest PA system stoking things up. Full credit to a small contingent of City fans who had made the journey out here to get behind the lads.
Talking points of Mark Hughes’ team selection were the return to action of Michael Johnson, who had not played since September last year, and the inclusion of young faces like Ben Mee and Vladimir Weiss. And all in our new home kit for the first time!
The pitch was bathed in sunshine, quite warm in the sun but turning chilly in the shade here on the high veldt in mid July. This ground is in the shadow of a new one being built for next year’s World Cup.
The Blues first chance came after 11 minutes when the Bulgarian paired up, Petrov swinging a cross over and Bojinov’s scissor-kicking a volley straight at Josephs. Twinkle-toed work from Frank Oliver gave the hosts a good opportunity on 25 minutes that went begging, and straight away the lively Petrov was breaking away to give Bellamy a heading chance that flew over the bar at the other end.
It had all been fairly quiet until the 35th minute when the linesman flagged for an infringement in the area, and the referee pointed straight at the spot. Ben Mee was adjudged to have held Oliver back, and Lucas Thwala stepped up to slot the ball past Stuart Taylor’s left hand.
The goal prompted City to get on the attack, Bojinov forcing a fine save out of Josephs and Bellamy then going one-on-one with the Pirates keeper – only to be flagged offside. The striker was not happy with the call, and ended up getting booked for his protestations.
We should have gone into the break level, Petrov once again crossing to his fellow countryman, who somehow put his free header from three yards out, dead centre, wide of the post. Petrov also went into the book for dissent in stoppage time.
City brought on two replacements after the break, with Benjani coming on for Bellamy and Vidal stepping in for Johnson, who had looked comfortable in his 45 minute stint. The popular Zimbabwean got a chorus of his derby day song straight away from Kippax et al in the stands. First chance of the second half fell to Petrov, who whipped a free kick just over the bar in the first minute.
The hosts delighted their support when they doubled the lead on 55 minutes, Lucas Thwala chancing his arm from the touchline with a speculative effort that caught Stuart Taylor out and dipped in over him into the back of the net. City’s summer addition to the keeping ranks prevented a third diving at Mabena’s feet and making a decent block.
Felipe Caicedo and Nigel de Jong came on with 20 minutes to go, and the big Ecuadorean showed his trademark nimble footwork quickly, dinking a shot on the ruin straight at the keeper. But the Pirates’ were looking more of a threat going forward, with Kamwendo’s volley forcing Taylor to make a good save down to his right with 16 minutes left.
The closing minutes were played at a leisurely pace, with Weiss swapping wings at times and posing the odd problem. Pirates’ substitute Childane really should have scored with three minutes left, putting the ball wide of Taylor but catching the post, with the rebound not being latched on to. City’s last chance came when Petrov’s cross dropped towards Weiss, but the keeper denied the Slovakian at the last second.
The main thing for City was to come through unscathed, and although it was a disappointing day in terms of the result, it was a memorable one for the Pirates and their noisy, good-natured fans.
More than 3,000 fans attended the beam back at the City of Manchester Stadium.
