Eric Tinkler not happy with his players after draw with Pirates

Eric Tinkler admitted that if you had offered him an away draw at Orlando Pirates for his Maritzburg United team on Tuesday night he would have happily taken it.

But the tough-talking coach still had some stern words for his players after the goalless draw.

Maritzburg kept a clean sheet for a fourth successive league match as they held out for a precious point at the Orlando Stadium‚ but Tinkler was not pleased.

“To be honest I don’t think we performed very well... maybe it was an off night for us‚" he said.

“I think we looked physically tired‚ mentally tired and a lot of players didn’t play with the intensity we needed.”

Tinkler said the drain of playing extra time and then having to go through a penalty shootout out against Highlands Park in last Friday’s Telkom Knockout quarter-final probably contributed.

“We were a little fortunate to a degree that Pirates weren’t in top form either‚" he said.

"Yes‚ they had opportunities but I think it was also an opportunity for us to hurt them.”

He felt that Maritzburg could have been a lot more committed when they had chances on the counter.

“If we showed a little more creativity and less fear to get forward‚ we could have taken it‚" he said.

“The saves that our goalkeeper Richard Ofori had to make came not from the creativity of Orlando Pirates but from a lack of intensity from us.”

Maritzburg will have little time to recover before their next game on Friday at home to Bloemfontein Celtic‚ who won on Tuesday by beating Highlanfds 3-1 at home.

For Maritzburg‚ it will be a third game in seven days.