Eric Tinkler hails Sekhukhune defence after hard-fought Orlando Pirates stalemate

Babina Noko have been in good form this season, occupying second place on the league standings for much of the campaign, but have since dropped to fourth with 26 points from 15 games.

They returned from the Africa Cup of Nations break with a 1-0 loss to Gavin Hunt's Stellenbosch, and while Sekhukhune defended stoically against the Buccaneers, Tinkler explained that his side were also guilty of too many mistakes and miss-placed passes.

He told SuperSport after the game: "One hundred percent, the defence won us a point, we had to suffer a lot today.

"We needed to be better on the ball and make less mistakes. In the first half we couldn't string three or four passes together.

“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 [Cardoso] had a great game, I thought Renaldo [Leaner] the goalkeeper great game. Offensively, not a great game at all which is disappointing.”

Tinkler added that while his team improved after the break, so did their second-placed opponents.

"The second half was better to a degree but we still did not have enough in the final third and had to absorb a lot of pressure," he explained.

Sekhukhune are next in action at home against league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns on Tuesday.