Bucs' supersub Relebohile Mofokeng credits team for late MTN8 victory

Mabasa shares what Riveiro said to him before hitting the pitch

After coming off the bench to help Orlando Pirates win the MTN8, Relebohile Mofokeng has refused to take credit for their glory saying it was a team effort. 

Mofokeng, came in as a late substitute, and caused a huge stir when he created a second goal, scored by Tshegofatso Mabasa. He netted the third goal in injury time to guide the Buccaneers to their third successive Top 8 trophy.

The match was heading for extra time when Mofokeng, who replaced Innocent Maela after the hour mark, made a huge impact. 

“It's not so much they trust me to come in the second half and make things happen, but I feel like when I come in, I work for the team,” Mofokeng told the media during the post-match press conference.

“We all worked for the team. The players that started are the ones that tired Stellenbosch for me to come in and do the simple things.”

This is the second time in a final that the 19-year-old came off the bench to score.  He netted the winning goal against Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup decider at Mbombela Stadium in June.

“When you start from the bench, it doesn't mean you won't play. You have to be ready,” he said.

“I'm grateful to my teammates for helping me to score. Tshego [Mabasa] was the one who passed to me so that I could score. I came in and worked, and they trusted me from the bench. I started games where I scored and assisted.”

Meanwhile Mabasa, who scored the second goal, explained his conversation with coach José  Riveiro before coming on as a sub. Mabasa replaced Evidence Makgopa in the second half.

“The message from the coach was to play simple. He told me that I was in this position a couple of months ago in the Nedbank Cup final, and I said to myself, Rele [Mofokeng] and Kabelo Dlamini that we should go and win this game for the team. That's it, and that is exactly what we did,” Mabasa said.

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