After setting the pace earlier in the season, Orlando Pirates have now gone five game without a victory in the Premier League race, and the embattled Buccaneers remained becalmed in an unproductive 1-1 draw against Maritzburg United at what looked distinctly like an Orlando Stadium cabbage patch on Wednesday night.

The home draw provided cold comfort for Orlando Pirates in chilly conditions, with continuous rain for much of the day causing the players to slide and slither at times on a surface that is, in any case, sub-standard.

And Pirates' descent continued, in the disturbing circumstances, with the Buccaneers now dropping a further place to sixth in the log.

The Buccaneers' plight was epitomised in the presence on the bench until late in the game of Teko Modise and Dikgang "Terminator" Mabelane, two players who were the darlings of the Pirates' supporters earlier in the season, but whose form of late has taken a disconcerting dip.

For all this, it was the Buccaneers who opened the score only seconds before half-time when resolute defender Lucky Lekgwathi forged upfield to score his first goal of the season.

The Pirates captain, however, was helped to no small degree by a bad blunder from United goalkeeper Tashrique Goldman, who afterwards admitted it was "a bad mistake" — although it was an isolated flaw in what was otherwise a superb, sometimes hectic performance.

And a United team in the lower half of the log deserve a good deal of credit for a gritty performance, despite losing Bageta Dikulu towards the end after the resolute defender had received a second yellow card.

The KwaZulu team were never awed by their more renowned opponents and only Pirates' diehards in the relatively small, increasingly uncomfortable crowd might have begrudged their 59th minute equaliser.

It was also a defender who enabled Maritzburg to return home satisfied and contented after earning a valuable point, with Mor Diouf doing the scoring job with a determined, close-range shot through a packed goalmouth.

Even the uneasy prospect of now having to face sturdy Santos in their next game with three defenders suspended — full-backs Peter Petersen and Elias Ngwepe are also under suspension after acquiring a third yellow card — did not prevent coach Gordon Igesund from proclaiming "it was a difficult job well done as far as I am concerned."

Sapa

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