Pirates lose more ground to Sundowns being held by 10-man Stellies

From the free-kick, Kabelo Dlamini struck the crossbar.

That Pirates went to the break at 0-0 did not seem reason for panic. The player advantage seemed to bode well for them in the second 45 minutes.

Stellenbosch are a famously tight-knit outfit, though. Steve Barker’s side fought a war of attrition to salvage something from the game after the break.

From a corner, Nkosinathi Sinisi saw a shot blocked. In the 77th Relebohile Mofokeng, after a snappy one-two, forced a save from Oscarine Masuluke from the edge of the box.

Bucs keeper Sipho Chaine had to be alert stopping a powerful, skidding drive from range by Nigerian defender Kazie Godswill.

Pirates could not get the breakthrough and had to settle for a share of the spoils,