Orlando Pirates missed the chance to close in on second place in the DStv Premiership after their 1-1 draw with Moroka Swallows at Dobsonville Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The point shared was down to individual errors, with Swallows opening the scoring through Lindokuhle Mtshali after a goalkeeping error from Sipho Chaine.
It was scored against the run of play, with Pirates, dominating more than 70% possession throughout but Daniel Akpeyi was rather comfortable in the opening half.
There was some glaring officiating errors with a penalty call dismissed and a goal disallowed for offside from Thalante Mbatha which the visitors could feel aggrieved by.
But they did get the equaliser before those two separate incidents with a neat passage of play leading to Thabiso Lebitso serving Patrick Maswanganyi with a pin-point cutback for the Bafana Bafana midfielder to slot him with conviction past a diving Akpeyi in goal.
For all Pirates superiority in possession, Swallows managed to otherwise limit their scoring chances and secured a vital point for their bid for survival.
The Dube Birds are in 13th place, 11 points off the relegation play-off spot occupied by 15th-placed Richards Bay, while they are 15 points ahead of the automatic drop zone, with Cape Town Spurs still reeling after another defeat, this time 1-0 to Chippa United.
Pirates remain in fifth place with 34 points after 22 games, four points behind second-placed Stellenbosch and 15 behind league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, with the top two sides having games in hand over the Buccaneers.
