Chiefs, Bucs limp into derby

FOR the umpteenth time this season, embattled Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler resorted to his hollow-sounding resolution that his team would work harder to turn their fortunes on the domestic scene around.

This was after yet another defeat, this time a 1-0 result burgled by relegation-threatened Jomo Cosmos.

The Soweto giants, who took the CAF Confederation Cup by storm in going all the way to the final last year, are still marooned in a scarcely believable 12th place on the domestic front, having won just four of their 14 games. Yet Tinkler,

tured, has vowed to work harder – as opposed to try something new.

“Obviously the players are extremely disappointed, including those who made the individual errors,” he said. “We ’ ve just got to keep working very hard and believing we’re doing the right thing.”

Tinkler conceded that despite knowing what to expect from an ultra-conservative Cosmos in the Potchefstroom rain, they still couldn’t do much about changing the result in a must-win game for them.

Depending on how one looks at it, the defeat comes at an inopportune time for Pirates as the Soweto derby looms this weekend. “We wanted to go into the derby on a victory. But that has happened in the past – we ’ ve lost then gone into the derby and performed extremely well, ” said Tinkler, referring to Bucs losing 2-0 to Golden Arrows ahead of the previous derby and going on to win it 3-1. Pirates meet Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto derby at FNB Stadium on Saturday, in what may yet again turn out to be Tinkler’s swansong should his men fall to another defeat against their rivals.