A 10-man Richards Bay held on for dear life to salvage a goalless draw in their DStv Premiership encounter against Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium on Saturday evening in Soweto.
The point sees Richards’ fairytale run in their maiden season in South Africa’s topflight continue.
But the KwaZulu-Natal side finished the game with 10 men after their midfielder Siyanda Msani was shown a straight red for a poor challenge on Olisa Ndah on the stroke of half-time.
Pirates started the clash brightly and nearly took the lead in the 25th minute when Ndah found himself unmarked inside the box but headed a cross straight to Richards goalie Salim Jamal Magoola.
A minute later, the Bucs’ defence was tested as Somila Ntsundwana wriggled his way through before sending his effort into the side-netting.
FIRING BLANKS
The hosts looked like scoring again when Monnapule Saleng’s first-time shot was kept out by the Richards netminder in the 33rd minute.
That proved to be the last real chance of the half as both sides went into the break goalless.
The Soweto giants started the second stands on a high, putting the Richards defence under a lot of pressure.
They created several goal-scoring opportunities. And in the 74th minute, the Bucs faithful were in a celebration mood, but as Bandile Shandu found the back of the net, but the offside flag was up.
A few seconds later, Tapelo Xoki directed his header towards the target from a corner, but his effort was tipped over the bar by Magoola.
Pirates kept pushing for the goal as Deon Hotto whipped a dangerous ball into the box, but Nkosinathi Sibisi headed just wide.
In the dying minutes of the game, the Namibian international, Hotto, floated one inside the box towards Terrence Dzvukamanja, who failed to convert.
Richards remain second on the log, one point behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns after 10 league matches, while Pirates are in fourth place.
