Was it sour grapes that kept the Pirates players away?

ORLANDO PIRATES snubbed the media after they were stunned by Baroka FC in the Telkom Knockout final at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday night.

Baroka FC were crowned the champions and walked away with a cheque of R4.25million for their efforts.

Penalties separated the two teams after a pulsating night of exhilarating action in Port Elizabeth. Bakgaga emerge 3-2 winners in the shootout in an epic final. The match ended 2-2 after 120 minutes of play.

Pirates had to come back twice to force the game to extra time and penalties. Thembinkosi Lorch, Thabiso Kutumela and Justin Shonga missed for the Buccaneers.

Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic did address the media at the post-match press conference, but the players refused to attend.

They were suppose to come and interact with the media at the media mix zone, but it was only the players who didn’t play who showed up. It was difficult for the media to interview players who didn’t take part in the final.

The media waited for a while to no avail. The players that were active in the final utilised the other exit to run away from the media.

Pirates were made to wait for another year to end their trophy drought. They haven’t tasted success for the past four years.

Pirates have had tough times in finals recently. They have now lost their last five finals. You have to go back to 2014 for their last triumph. It came at the expense of Wits at Moses Mabhida Stadium in the Nedbank Cup final. The Buccaneers won 3-1 that afternoon.

Since then they have failed to master the formula to win Cup finals. Their barren run in Cup finals started back in 2015 when they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat against Tunisian powerhouse, Etiole du Sahel in the final of the Caf Confederation Cup.

It got even worse for the Buccaneers in 2015 when they were knocked out of the Nedbank Cup in the last 32 by Kaizer Chiefs. It was the same script, but against a different cast for the Sea Robbers as they were beaten by SuperSport United in the Nedbank Cup finals in 2016 and 2017

Baroka’s players did the right thing as they presented themselves at the media mix zone. Baroka will now be gunning to be the first side to defeat Sundowns in the PSL.

Pirates are at the summit of the league standings and will be looking to bounce back from their defeat against Baroka and increase their lead at the top.