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Pietermaritzburg - Following their emphatic six goal thriller against Maritzburg United at the weekend, Orlando Pirates captain Thabo Matlaba said that the half-time team-talk held by head coach Eric Tinkler proved significant as it helped the Soweto giants earn a vital point in Kwazulu-Natal.
The Buccaneers came from 3 goals behind to snatch a point against the Team of Choice in an Absa Premiership match at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Saturday.
Pirates found the back of the net courtesy of Matlaba, Kermit Erasmus and Thabo Rakhale while Brian Onyango, Evans Rusike and the late Mondli Cele were on target for United.
Matlaba admitted that the Buccaneers have conceded silly goals before the interval but did well to re-group and came back strongly in the second-half.
“We conceded silly goals in the first half but we also managed to regroup and came back strongly in the second half," said Matlaba.
“Both Eric (Tinkler) and Teboho (Moloi) told us to work hard and said we could still win the game.
“So they said that if they (Maritzburg) could manage to score three goals in the first half we can also do the same in the second half.
“The coach motivated us to go back to the field strongly and do exactly what he instructed us to do and we did exactly that as a team.
“And we managed to get a draw at the end of the day, so the half-time team talk really worked for us.”
Pirates remained at the bottom half of the table occupying the 11th position spot while United are still rooted at the bottom of the log.
Pirates will face Jomo Cosmos away from home in their next PSL assignment on Saturday.
