Sekhukhune United coach Eric Tinkler hailed his defence after they fire-extinguished Orlando Pirates’ winning streak

Sekhukhune United had a promising start to the 2025/26 Premier Soccer League campaign, but their form dipped just before the break. Despite this, Eric Tinkler’s side remains in the top four alongside defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns, title chasers Orlando Pirates, and Kaizer Chiefs.

The Polokwane side’s strong showing demonstrated how Tinkler and his men know exactly where to press the Soweto giants, whom they had previously beaten at Orlando Stadium. Despite the tactical battles from both sides, the clash ended in a stalemate, with each team taking a single point.

The former Cape Town City coach credited his backline for the team’s solid showing.

“One hundred percent, the defence won us a point, we had to suffer a lot today, the disappointing part like I said in the pre-match interview we needed to better on the ball and needed to make less mistakes with the ball and in the first half we couldn’t string three to four passes together and a lot of individual errors,” Tinkler told SuperSport TV.

“And again, a team like Pirates they going to put you under pressure, but defensively we were solid, Bright [Ndlovu] had a great game, Danny [Daniel Cardoso] had a great game, I thought Renaldo [Leaner], the goalkeeper had a great game.

However, Tinkler admitted he couldn’t say the same about his team’s chance creation.

"Offensively, not a great game at all, which is disappointing," he said.

“Didn’t really create clear-cut chances in my view, we had one from a throw-in in the first half, half-half, but predominantly Pirates attacking us and us defending for our lives."

He went on to explain that he had hoped his side would capitalise on the chances they created, but it wasn’t to be.

“I just thought we needed to put Vusi [ Mncube] back in the middle because [Lehlohonolo] Mojela with Brad wasn’t really working for us so we needed to someone to play off Bradley and it improved slightly in the second half, but we had opportunities to run with the ball when we won it and we opted to make an early pass, or opted to play back-wards,” Tinkler continued.

“We didn’t really look to that penetration every time. We played Bradley, it was aerial and no one really running in behind, but we didn’t recognise the space that actually existed, which I tried to make them aware of at halftime.

“And like I said, second half, better to a degree, but not enough in the final third so we had to absorb a lot of pressure, especially towards the end."

As Babina Noko turns attention to a tough clash with Sundowns, Tinkler raised concerns over his players’ consistency, noting that they often shine against the big teams but drop form against others — an issue he hopes to address with his squad.

"The frustration I have is that I know the players will pitch up for these games, but the smaller teams are the teams we struggle against. [The] difference between ourselves and Pirates is [that] Pirates play a game every week with teams wanting to beat them, and they have the mentality that every game is a cup final," he said, as per SABC Sports.

"Why is that the case? The expectation is for them to win leagues. Our players aren't at that stage."

"If you collect maximum points, you get to a really good position. It's been about reiterating that message to the players, and they must understand that today for example, some of their contributions were not enough.

"My expectation and the club's expectation is more than what they are giving, so that'll be the focus over the next couple of days."