We lost tonight against Orlando Pirates in another controversial game as we were reduced to 10 men in the 56th minute.
Pirates did show domination in the first half of the game, and used their ball well to push up into our half and keep us on the back foot. We equaled them in defence though and Mzava and Mathiane both showed great character at the back. Our counter play in the half was not as quick off the break as normal, and we created few chances that threatened the visitors.
Our efforts did however see us going into the break with no scores on the board.
On return, both sides seemed to kick into a higher gear and tensions were evident in the play. A couple of hard tackles ensued and this added to the tensions on field. Pirates then opened the scoring with Lorch finding the back of the net from a movement that saw him come in from the far side and unleash a bullet of a shot that beat Mbaeva.
Six minutes later we were reduced to 10 men after the referee gave Mzava a second yellow and ultimately his marching orders for an offence by Buthelezi.
We had been doing well to play back into the game at this stage and served as a major set back in our game plan.
Needing to cover the gap caused by being a man down, we took a bit of time to find a rhythm again. And Pirates used this to their advantage as Dube was played into position and scored a second for the Bucs.
The team showed their fight inside though and did well to create a number of well executed plays that saw us get into the last third and within reach of a scoring chance.
Coach Larsen bought Jooste and Shongwe into play and the injection of fresh legs paid off. In the 84th minute Shongwe scored with a well executed shot off a back pass assist from Lamola.
This fired the side up and for the last 6 minutes of the game they tried with determination to create another chance. They cam close but could just not get the finsihing needed to equalise.
We have another long break now as there are 2 weeks of internationals being played. But we return to the field with a 19h30 away game against Cape Town City on the 4th April at Cape Town Stadium
