Erasmus bagged all the goals as Pirates advanced in the CAF Confederations Cup, beating the side from Gabon 3-0 at Orlando Stadium to move into the third round on a 5-2 aggregate.
“This is my first hat-trick in my professional career and I would like to dedicate it to my two beautiful girls and my fiancé” Erasmus said after the match.
“It’s been long coming. It’s something I’ve always wanted to achieve and it’s something I want to keep on doing. This is extra special as we are now in the next round.”
Erasmus was quick to hail the contribution of his teammates, especially Thamsanqa Gabuza, who is not a regular starter: “It was a team effort. Gabuza played a huge in me getting the hat-trick. He could have got one himself but passed the ball to me when he had a chance to score.”
Sifiso Myeni also impressed, providing the assists for the first two goals. And, while Erasmus was the star of the show as the Buccaneers kept their dream of winning another continental trophy alive, coach Eric Tinkler also praised the overall team effort.
“I was happy with the performance of the team. There was a lot of tactical discipline and high work-rate from both Kermit and Gabuza.
"We knew their defence was their weakest point and we knew that if we applied high pressure it was going to be difficult for them,” Tinkler said.
“Defensively we were also very good. This was probably our best performance in defence in a long time,” he added.
The third round draw takes place at 10h00 on Tuesday morning, and includes sides knocked out of the CAF Champions League second round.