Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer was delighted to have returned to winning ways against Maritzburg United following their defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup.

Vincent Pule grabbed a second half brace as the Buccaneers claimed a much-needed 2-0 victory over the Team of Choice at the Orlando Stadium on Sunday.

After claiming maximum points, the Buccaneers have now moved up to fourth place in the DStv Premiership standings, two points behind second place AmaZulu and eight points off leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

The German mentor was pleased with the defender’s impact on the game and also reserved special praise for Abel Mabaso and Thabiso Sesane.

‘Difficult first half,’ Zinnbauer told SuperSport TV.

‘They were very aggressive in the high press. It took a long time for us to come into the game. Second half was much better. The decisions, we brought a little bit more freshness. And then I’m happy we have [Vincent] Pule. I saw Pepe was the man of the match. He made a good game. First game in the starting line-up.

‘The result was important for us after the Sundowns game. We know we have a lot of tired players. We are happy about the result and we are looking forward to our next game.

‘[Thabang] Monare and Ben [Motshwari] had a lot of games. Ben was a bit tired in the muscles. We needed him as a player. He had two times he could score. We changed a little bit the tactics. Pule was very forward-thinking and the two goals were good.

‘I’m happy about the clean sheet. Pepe and Tsiki made a good game. Mabasa was a long time out. He came back and did well as a fullback and then we changed him to a six and he did well. He can play in both positions. Also Mako was priceless. He runs, he fights, he makes metres.

‘The team works as a unit and it’s important to keep a clean sheet. We have Wayne with a lot of experience. Yes, the defence was good today,’ he concluded.

Orlando Pirates will now turn their attention to the Caf Confederation Cup when they play host to ES Setif on Wednesday afternoon.