Orlando Pirates Assistant Coach Mandla Ncikazi Laments 'Bad Refereeing Decisions'

• Mandla Ncikazi has hit out at PSL match officials for the apparent bad decisions made against his team
• The Orlando Pirates assistant coach's comments follow Pirates' 1-1 draw against Swallows in a DStv Premiership tie
• Ncikazi specifically went after Tshidiso Mkwanazi, despite not pointing out the referee's untoward calls during the match

Orlando Pirates assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi is aggrieved by the apparent misguided officiating decisions being churned out against his team "week in and week out".

Not mincing his words, Ncikazi said he thought the Buccaneers should have bagged a win against Swallows, whom they played to a 1-1 stalemate in the DStv Premiership at Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday night.

News24 reported that after Bandile Shandu opened the scoring three minutes into the encounter, a 15th-minute Ruzaigh Gamildien penalty ensured that both teams shared the spoils.

Ncikazi, conceding their opponents, too, had chances to get their noses in front, reiterated he backed Pirates for match honours as his side had managed to create more clear-cut opportunities in front of goal, TimesLIVE reported.

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Match should've been won

The former Golden Arrows coach, who joined the Soweto giants on a three-year contract after leaving Lamontville – where he'd steered the side to their highest ever finish in the league – on mutual consent, suggested he had bones to pick with the referee who officiated the tie.

Although not honing in on the untoward calls made by Tshidiso Mkwanazi, who just a week earlier had officiated in Swallows' 1-0 win against Baroka FC at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, Ncikazi said the Premier Soccer League (PSL) official had gone against his team.

"We deserved all three points. We scored early in the match and subconsciously moved back, which was not the plan. But having said that, we had better chances [in the face of goal]," Ncikazi said in his post-match interview.

"Swallows brought out some good saves from our keeper [Siyabonga Mpontshane], which is his job, but I'm disappointed we weren't more ruthless in front of goal. We missed decisions, and we missed shots. Which is why we ended up in a stalemate."

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Improvements from officials needed

Ncikazi then unleashed his wrath on Mkwanazi, laying into not only the official in the original Soweto derby but his colleagues who've been in charge of other games involving The Sea Robbers.

"It becomes even worse when the referee does not assist you. I think in the past matches the officiating has been very bad for Pirates. I don't know the reasons for it but hope it improves. We can't be subjected to such bad decisions weekly," added Ncikazi.

Pirates will next meet the reigning DStv Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night. The clash, as with many others before, is expected to be one of the more pulsating and action-filled encounters of the season in the top-flight.

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Elsewhere, Briefly News recently reported that despite playing with only 10 men in the second half of their league encounter at home to Baroka FC, Sundowns bagged all three points with a 2-1 win to assert their dominance on this season's DStv Premiership on Tuesday.

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In the process, Masandawana became the first side to cross the 40-point mark and stretched their lead over second-placed Kaizer Chiefs by 15 points, the only other team to record as many points at the halfway stage of the league, albeit in their 2014/15 championship-winning season, IOL reported.

The Brazilians came close to opening their account as early as the second minute of the encounter, but Rushine De Reuck nodded Lyle Lakay’s well-taken corner wide of the mark.