Galaxy survive scare, set date with Pirates
Kabelo Boranabi | Tuesday August 29, 2023 08:54
The local champions were beaten 2-1 away in the second leg of the CAF Champions League preliminary round played in Uganda. Galaxy carried a 2-0 lead from the first leg played at the Lobatse Sports Complex, a week ago. They faced an early onslaught from Vipers and went into the halftime break trailing by two goals on Saturday evening at St. Mary’s Stadium. Galaxy were goal down by the half hour mark as the home side took the lead through Yunus Sentamu’s strike. He completed his brace on the last minutes of the first half. Galaxy, however, pulled one back very late into the tie through a brilliantly taken free-kick by Gilbert Baruti. Despite the 2-1 away loss, Galaxy advance on a 3-2 aggregate win.
They will face South African giants, Orlando Pirates in the second round. Pirates were comfortable in the preliminary round as they won the two-legged contest against Djabal Club of Comoros with a 4-0 score. It will be another date for Galaxy’s head coach, Morena Ramoreboli with Pirates after masterminding a win against them in their first meeting a decade ago. The gaffer led third tier side, Maluti FET College to a shocking 4-1 victory over Pirates in the first round of the Nedbank Cup. The two will also be meeting for the second time in Africa inter-club competitions. Galaxy and Pirates faced off in the 2021 preliminary stages of the CAF Confederation Cup.
The Buccaneers won the two legged tie 4-0, as Galaxy were beaten 3-0 at the National Stadium and lost 1-0 away at the Orlando Stadium.