It wasn’t as dominant as expected, but the defending champions are up and running. Playing against rookies Milford FC, Orlando Pirates were expected to start the defence of their championship title with a convincing win but had to settle for a 2-0 win. The scoreline was an edgy 1-0 until the 85th minute when Tshepang Moremi beat Milford FC goalkeeper Siphamandla Hleza to put this match to bed and turn the volume to full blast on the stands. Buccaneers supporters showed they missed local football after the long and drawn out 2026 Fifa World Cup by arriving in large numbers and they were not disappointed. A free-kick by Oswin Appollis, that looked to have deflected off a Milford FC defender, gave them the lead after 24 minutes as they earned their first three points of the season. When he does his post-mortem, Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou is going to rue the fact that they could have won this match by a bigger margin if they fully exploited their dominance. Milford FC coach Dr Xanti Pupuma will be encouraged by the spirited performance which gives him something to work on ahead of their second match of the season against Siwelele FC. Going into this match, Pirates supporters were curious to know who Ouaddou was going to start in the creative central midfield role which was made available by the departure of Relebohile Mofokeng. Ouaddou went with Patrick Maswanganyi as their creative force and paired the highly-promising midfielder Camren Dansin with Thalente Mbatha as double pivots and they dealt with Mvelo Zikakayo and Thobani Bhengu. On the attack, Appollis, Tshepang Moremi and ineffective Yanela Mbuthuma were tasked with threatening the Milford FC defence marshalled by Olwethu Cele and Vusumuzi Mthabela. Pirates had the upper hand early in the first half by creating most of the chances and enjoying more time on the ball with players like Hotto, Appollis and Kamogelo Sebelebele. Though Pirates had more of the ball in all areas, Milford also had their moments on the attack and they twice tested goalkeeper Sipho Chaine with long-range shots before 20 minutes. After numerous wasted chances due to poor decision-making in the final third, Pirates finally got it right when Appollis got the better of Hleza with a well-placed free-kick. The goal was credited to Appollis, who celebrated by showing the 23 sign in the air to honour his late friend Jayden Adams, but the ball appeared to have hit Milford FC defender Mthabela on its way into the empty net. Pirates increased their tempo when they returned from the break and were nearly rewarded after the hour mark when Hotto was denied by an alert Hleza who moved out of his line. During the closing stages, Ouaddou was not satisfied with the 1-0 lead and made a raft of changes which saw Mbuthuma, Appollis, Hotto, Sebelebele and Maswanganyi pulled off the field. Ouaddou refreshed the team with the introduction of Kabelo Kgisitsile, Neo Rapoo, Radiopane, Simphiwe Masilela and Gamphani Lungu who gave the team a different shape. Their arrival also yielded a different attacking dimension and their freshness assisted Pirates to get the all-important insurance goal from Moremi during the closing stages. Moremi caught the tired Milford FC defence off guard, beating an advancing Hleza to put the ball into an empty net. The many changes by Ouaddou also speaks to squad depth and this is important because they are back in the Champions League after the disappointment of last season. It is also important to remember that Pirates did not even have players like Mpho Chabatsane, Nkosikhona Ndaba, Deano van Rooyen, Makhehleni Makhaula, Masindi Nemtajela, Andre de Jong, Kabelo Dlamini, Daniel Msendani and Evidence Makgopa. A nice touch by Pirates supporters was the tribute they paid to Relebohile Mofokeng, who has joined Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise with a large banner reading: ‘Thank You President Yama 2K. Before the start of the match, there was a show to celebrate the 30the anniversary of the PSL where flags of the 52 teams that played in the league were displayed with a musical item.