Can Pirates turn the corner in Carling Knockout?

The Carling Knockout competition in its various guises down the years has proven a mostly harrowing experience for Soweto giants Orlando Pirates having won only one of their nine finals appearances since it was first played in 1982.

That is a dismally poor record for a club so steeped in history and the third most successful in the country’s history, but for whatever reason they have found this particular piece of silverware frustratingly elusive.

That single victory came in 2011 when they beat BidVest Wits 3-1 in the final thanks to goals from Thulasizwe Mbuyane, Daine Klate and Isaac Chansa.

But for the rest there has been little cheer, despite their numerous final appearances.

They will travel to Richards Bay for a quarterfinal on Saturday, eager to improve recent results but on the back of three consecutive domestic knockout trophy wins – back-to-back MTN8 triumphs and the Nedbank Cup.

Coach Jose Riveiro has been at a loss to explain their downturn in league form, but is now unbeaten in 14 local cup matches and knows the formula for knockout success.

He feels the corner will be turned soon for his side.

"It’s going to happen. This team is going to find their momentum for sure,” he said. “We have a difficult feeling to accept but it’s also a test for us that after the last three results, we are not happy about.

“To be critical, to understand that we must and we can do things much better. But don’t doubt this group because I can tell you that they are going to make it."

TURNING THE CORNER

He will hope the corner is turned in this bogey competition for the team.

They lost to Durban Bush Bucks in the final in 1987, then to Mamelodi Sundowns in 1990. It took five years to return to the final and this time it was Wits who beat them 1-0.

They were then stunned by a young Ajax Cape Town 4-1 in a replay of the 2000 decider, and lost to Ajax again in 2008 and bitter rivals Kaizer Chiefs in 2010.

There was some respite with that 2011 success, but normal service resumed after that with shock final losses to Platinum Stars (2013) and Baroka FC (2018).

There is no real explanation why their conversion rate is so poor, they have a strong record in MTN8 and Nedbank Cup finals.

In the PSL era particularly they have got past the first round in 19 of the 24 competitions played since the 1996/97 season, taking into account the fact that there has been no trophy on offer since 2019.

They have exited in the quarterfinals five times (21 per cent of the time), including four years ago, and in the semifinals on eight occasions (33 per cent). Their six final appearances (25 per cent) have yielded just that one win.

They had a run of four first round exits in a row between 2001 and 2004 that will not have helped their cause – coming unstuck against Ajax, Umtata Bush Bucks, Manning Rangers and Sundowns respectively.

Pirates have met their two Soweto rivals the most times in this competition since 1996/97, playing Chiefs and Moroka Swallows both seven times.

Their record against Chiefs is two wins, two losses and three draws, though the AmaKhosi claimed all three of those penalty shoot-outs.

It is much better against Swallows where they have four wins, two draws and a single defeat. They have also met Bloemfontein Celtic (W3 D3) and SuperSport United (W4 L2) six times each.

Their biggest wins in the PSL era have been 4-0 successes against Santos (1997), Jomo Cosmos (1998) and Lamontville Golden Arrows (2013).

Their heaviest defeats have been 3-1 against Chiefs (1998) and Sundowns twice (1999 & 2004).

In all, Pirates have played 77 games in the League Cup since 1996/97, winning 41, drawing 19 and losing 17. They have scored 125 goals and conceded 80.