Moerane on cloud nine with winning start at Orbit

Lesotho goalkeeper Sekhoane Moerane is over the moon after registering victory on his debut for Orbit College in the Motsepe Foundation Championship on Saturday.

Orbit came from a goal down with two late goals to defeat Venda FC 2-1 at Thohoyandou Stadium 2-1 and return to the summit of the Motsepe Championship table.

The Likuena goal minder move to South Africa during the January transfer window, where he penned a three-and-half-year contract to end months of speculation on his future having courted the attention of several clubs outside Lesotho borders.

He missed three matches awaiting his work permit since the league resumed following the month-long break due to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote D’voire.

Moerane had been the centre of attention following his impressive displays at the 2023 COSAFA Cup, where in the penalty shootout saved all of Malawi spot kicks to hand his country a 3-0 victory in the semi-finals.

His heroics helped the Kingdom country reach the COSAFA final in over two decades but suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to eventual winners, Zambia.

Moerane continued his impressive displays in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers as Lesotho gave Nigeria a scare in Uyo in a one-all draw that was followed by a goalless draw against Benin at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

Orbit, who also have the services of Likuena midfield kingpin, Tshwarelo Bereng moved to the summit of Motsepe Foundation Championship at least until Sunday, where they can be overtaken by University of Pretoria that are two points behind them in second position and only playing on Sunday against Platinum City Rovers.

Elsewhere, Likuena defender Thato Sefoli was in action for Upington City as they registered a 3-2 victory over JDR Stars with the Peka born defender playing the whole 90 minutes.

Moerane said he had mixed emotions after he was named in the starting line up having acquired his work permit over a week ago to finally kickstart his career in South Africa.

“I was excited, really happy to start but at the same time, there was a lot of pressure on me because it was my first game and Orbit came into this match at the back of a defeat,” Moerane said.

“So, my goal coming into this game was to get a clean sheet and motivate my teammates to put the previous game behind us as the coach believes I’m a good motivator to the in-field players in the way I communicate with them.

“The game came with a lot of pressure and gave me goosebumps, but I had to chin up to give my new teammates what they feel I have brought to the team and I did though I struggled in the opening minutes of the game conceding a goal in the first minute.”

The Likuena goalkeeper stated that his team had to dig deep in the second half to win the match and keep their promotion hopes alive as they moved back to the summit of the Motsepe Foundation Championship with the victory over Venda FC.

“We conceded as early as the first minute if not the second, but my team gave me the support not to stress about setback, but to focus on the comeback, which we did to win it in the second half,” the Likuena goalkeeper said.

“I’m glad that my long ball got us an assist in the second goal as we have a speedy striker who feeds very well from my long balls and I’m very, very happy that we won the match, and I was able to contribute in that.

“I know this means more pressure for me, but what made me happy was getting the three points in my first game for the club,” he said.