In a Soweto Derby to be remembered, Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows played to an entertaining 2-2 draw in an Absa Premiership thriller at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday night.

The game had it all, from great individual performances to a team that came back from a two-goal deficit to salvage a point.

The first half saw the 'Buccaneers' go a goal down in only the third minute of the match. It was the poacher mentality of Shaun Haschick that saw the Birds go in front early on when he capitalised on some miss-communication in the Pirates? defence. A cross from the left came into the box and instead of clearing the danger, Mzondi Mthombeni tried to chest the ball back to his keeper unaware that Haschick was behind him.

Consequently the Swallows striker was quick enough to step in between Moeneeb Josephs and Mthombeni to slot the ball home and put his side in front, 1-0.

Thereafter, it was all one-way traffic in favour of the Buccaneers as they mounted attack after attack on the Swallows goal. The pace of the game was frantic and although Pirates had numerous chances to level matters, they just couldn't find the back of the net.

But a lot of the credit in the first half must certainly go to the Birds goalie, Greg Etafia, who was simply phenomenal between the sticks.

Etafia?s first notable save came in the sixth minute after he found himself in a one-on-one situation with Thulasizwe Mbuyane. After some beautiful build-up play Mbuyane only had the keeper to beat, but Etafia spread himself well to deny the striker.

Only three minutes later and Etafia was called into action again, and again it was in a one-on-one situation. Some swift passing and quick off-the-ball movement saw Gert Schalkwyk with a chance to beat the Swallows keeper, but again he made himself big and denied Pirates the equaliser.

Katlego Mashego also came close to leveling matters in the 29th minute when he let fly with a powerful shot from the edge of the 18 yard box. This time Etafia could not do a thing, but was relieved to see the shot sail inches over the crossbar.

Then against the run of play Swallows nearly snatched a second goal in the 36th minute, but only the utter brilliance of Josephs kept his side a goal down.

In a quick counter-attack, Siyabonga Nomvete drove down the right flank and whipped in an inch perfect cross to find Collins Mbesuma unmarked in the box. Josephs, however, was at hand producing one of the saves of the season to deny Mbesuma from only a couple of yards out.

Shortly after the half time break, Haschick once again drove a dagger into the hearts of Pirates fans when he scored his side?s second goal nine minutes into the second half. He showed great composure to control a long ball from the back before turning and eloquently firing the ball home, bending it around Josephs from just inside the box, 2-0.

But not all was lost for the 'Buccaneers' as they hit back almost instantly with Phenyo Mongala grabbing his side?s opening goal two minutes later. And, ironically, the man to blame was Etafia as he parried a cross straight onto the head of Mongala who headed into an empty net, 2-1.

Defence was the name of the game from there on out for Swallows, as they proceeded to throw 11 men behind the ball to try and defend their lead. Pirates, on the other hand, threw players forward in attack and even finished with only three defenders, substituting one for an attacker.

In the end it paid off for Pirates as Rooi Mahamutsa grabbed the equalising goal four minutes from time after a goal mouth scramble inside the Swallows box. Mahamutsa did not hesitate, firing the ball home powerfully when it fell to him 12 yards out, 2-2.

That is the way the game finished and the Buccaneers rightly deserved the draw after dictating play for the majority of the match.

The teams:

Orlando Pirates: (4-4-2) Josephs; Jele, Mahamutsa, Lekgwathi, Mthombeni (Mthembu 77); Mbuyane, Mdluli, Jali, Mongala (Chenene 67); Schalkwyk (Mabalane 66), Mashego.

Moroka Swallows: (4-3-3) Etafia; Kobola, Cichon, Hendricks, Mphahlele; Shivambu, Tsutsulupa (Denge 61), Khumalo; Nomvete, Haschick (Shumana 81), Mbesuma (Radebe 76).