Johannesburg - And then there was one for Pirates, as they crashed out of yet another competition with defeat to Marumo Gallants in the Nedbank Cup via a penalty shootout on Wednesday evening.
The Buccaneers have had a terrible last five days as defeat to arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs was followed by this disappointing elimination in the last available local competition.
Pirates co-coach, Fadlu Davids feels his boys don't have time to reflect on their shortfalls this season and he would rather have his team focus on their upcoming Caf Confederation Cup game on the weekend.
The former Maritzburg United coach spoke after his side's defeat at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, and revealed his displeasure with his players failing to make the most of their opportunities.
"We have ourselves to blame, they (Gallants) didn't create many chances apart from the penalty. We created numerous situations where we could have scored throughout the match but failed to make the most of them."
"We can't hold on to this defeat, we have another game coming up on Sunday (against Royal Leopards) and we have to lift the boys up for that game," he expressed.
The Sea Robbers have been a figure of inconsistency throughout the season, a squad marred by injuries to important players has put co-coaches Davids and Mandla Ncikazi under tremendous pressure.
The timely return of key players like Thembinkosi Lorch, Richard Ofori and Gabadinho Mhango (who is yet to feature this year) brought about a great deal optimism at the beginning of the year, however defeat to Chiefs and Gallants has quickly pointed to their Caf Confederation Cup exploits as being their only chance at salvaging their season.
The race for next season's second Caf champions league place is set to go down to the wire with the Johannesburg-based club currently fourth on the DStv premiership log, 19 points behind table-topping Mamelodi Sundowns but four points behind second-placed Royal AM.