Orlando Pirates head coach Josef Zinnbauer says that while he was disappointed in the result against Mamelodi Sundowns it was not a bad performance from his side and with a bit of luck the Sea Robbers could have won.

The Soweto giants kicked off the new year looking to firmly assert themselves in the title race.

Zinnbuaer’s side though was condemned to a 1-0 defeat, their first defeat of the season, as they went down 1-0 against Masadawana on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking to SuperSportTV after the game the coach bemoaned his side luck in the first half where they showed a lot of intention.

“Set-pieces, goal, it’s always difficult. We know against Sundowns. All the little luck in think in the first half we were good in the game,” Zinnbauer told SuperSport TV. “We had a lot of opportunities to score the first goal. Second half we did what we can.

“Played forward, chances yes, but not enough of the final shot or final pass.”

“We gave it all in our last 20 minutes, and when you do that, they could hit us on the counter. Then we had a little luck. I’m disappointed,” he continued. “We did a lot of work, it was not a bad performance. But yeah we had not the goal that we need. I think if we scored in the first half, we could have won the game.”

“It was a tactical aspect. We needed a goal. We know Ndlovu is flexible, he can play as a six or as an eight,” he added. “This was the reason we changed at half-time. We wanted more offensive options. It wasn’t just Ndlovu. It was the whole team.