Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer says his side were ‘completely out of it’ in the first half against Black Leopards on Sunday.

The Buccaneers conceded their second defeat in the DStv Premiership this season following their 2-0 defeat by Leopards at the Thohoyandou Stadium.

An own goal by Innocent Maela and another goal by Roderick Kabwe had Leopards walk away with all three points, but Zinnbauer felt their opponents played the better game on the day following their below-par first-half performance.

‘We were completely out of it in the first half, the first half I don’t know what we did but it was not what we spoke about before,’ Zinnbauer told SuperSport TV after the match.

‘When you play a relegation team, they run, they fight for the three points, they give 100%, more than 100%. We stayed on the field, watched a little bit of the game, you cannot win the game if you don’t play in the first half, it’s not possible.

‘Mentally its another thing; all clubs now play a lot of games, it’s a mental thing, you cannot do more than say, “Be careful”, they fight, they give all for three points, fight for this, win your duels, it’s important in the first 20 minutes and the whole 45 minutes it was not in.

‘Last game it was same game, same field, the 45 minutes in and then you have a chance to win the game but at half time you get [concede] two goals, it’s not possible. They did a better job in the second half but it’s not enough to win a game.’