Pogiso Makhoye lauds Orbit College youngsters in Orlando Pirates loss
27th August 2025
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Orbit College head coach Pogiso Makhoye says he had to field at least eight youngsters from their DStv Diski Challenge team but is proud of their work during last night’s 1-0 loss to Orlando Pirates.
As part of their loan agreement with Pirates, Orbit could not field Monnapule Saleng, Yanga Madiba and Thuso Moleleki at Orlando Stadium last night.
This forced Makhoye to dig into his reserves, with whom he was left satisfied over how the youngsters carried themselves in the elite division.
"I think today, if you check our starting 11, we had about eight DDC players who came in and imposed themselves," noted Makhoye.
"The first five games is an experiment, we knew we didn't have a good pre-season and now, even when we look at the five-game [plan], we say this is the time to experiment.
"And until we get our best team, I think these boys – even though we didn't have those important [loanee] players tonight, they really performed well."
The loan policy is common among clubs who still pay the salaries of their loaned out players, with Makhoye confirming they fully understood the policy upon acquiring the services of the trio.
"I think it didn't even disturb us because we knew, when we got them on loan, that when we play Pirates, they won't play, so we were talking about only one player that has been in the starting XI for the last three games," he added.
"It's not like the other two have been part of the starting line-up, and we always had a plan. We knew Saleng was not going to be part of this, and it never distracted us."
