Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Maritzburg United coach Eric Tinkler spoke about his disappointment after his side went down 1-0 to log leaders Orlando Pirates in an entertaining Absa Premiership clash at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Wednesday.
Vincent Pule struck in the 67th minute for the Buccaneers, who went three points clear at the top of the table with just two games remaining.
For Maritzburg however the prospect of relegation is now staring them flat in the face as they remain bottom of the table, four points from their nearest rivals.
Tinkler felt his team did not match the Soweto giants in terms of physicality and work-rate.
The Team of Choice mentor told Supersport TV after the game: "Massive disappointment with the result.
"I thought in the first half we didn't press them well enough. Our shifting wasn't very good. We gave them a few spaces in between the lines and in the end they hurt us.
"Our transitions in to attack were very poor in the first half. It was only once or twice we managed to get in behind them. We created one or two situations.
"So at half-time we spoke about needing to raise the intensity. We needed to play a lot quicker on the transitions and on the counter.
"We needed to match in all areas, especially the physical game. They run a lot, they work hard. And we needed to match them. I felt at moments we weren't doing that."
The KZN club now need maximum points from the last three fixtures and hope results go their way to have any chance of avoiding the dreaded drop.
