When Relebohile Mofokeng scored a hat-trick on Sunday, he joined an exclusive group of Orlando Pirates who have scored three goals in a league game in the PSL era.
In this week’s iDiski Times e-paper, Matshelane Mamabolo looked back at Mofokeng’s performance, and at those Pirates players who have also scored hat-tricks.
The Pirates youngster was in his element on Sunday as he scored his maiden hat-trick to help the Buccaneers to a 6-0 ‘massacre’ of TS Galaxy in Mbombela.
The victory saw Pirates move to the top of the Betway Premiership table – a point ahead of champions Mamelodi Sundowns, who have a game in hand.
In the league, since the advent of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) era in 1996, Mofokeng becomes the eighth Pirates player to score a hat-trick, with Tshegofatso Mabaso holding the distinct record of two such in one calendar year.
Pirates hat-trick scorers in LEAGUE matches:
- POLLEN NDLANYA, 2002 April 21 – Castle Premiership, Pirates 4 AmaZulu 0
- BENEDICT VILAKAZI, 2004 February 9 – Castle Premiership, Pirates 5 Dynamos 0
- THULASIZWE MBUYANE, 2009 August 29 – ABSA Premiership, Pirates 4 Jomo Cosmos 0
- TENDAI NDORO, 2016 August 24 – ABSA Premiership, Pirates 3 Golden Arrows 1
- GABADINHO MHANGO, 2020 January 7 – ABSA Premiership, Pirates 4 Polokwane City 1
- MONNAPULE SALENG, 2022 January 14 – DStv Premiership, Pirates 4 Swallows FC 1
- TSHEGOFATSO MABASA, 2024 April 6 – DStv Premiership, Pirates 7 Golden Arrows 1
- TSHEGOFATSO MABASA, 2024 December 24, Betway Premiership, Pirates 8 Marumo Gallants 1
- RELEBOHILE MOFOKENG, 2026 March 22, Betway Premiership, TS Galaxy 0 Pirates 6
Read the full feature in Edition 248 of the iDiski Times e-paper, free on WhatsApp.
