Orlando Pirates attacker Thembinkosi Lorch claims that Mamelodi Sundowns’ theatrics in the goalless draw between the two teams was done in a bid to throw Pirates off their game.

The clash between Pirates and Sundowns provided drama from prior to the game with Sundowns’ security personnel denying the Pirates bus entry into their gates at Loftus Versfeld.

The chaos erupted when a fan made his way past the barricades to confront Pirates assistant Rulani Mokwena which saw the two teams square off in a heated confrontation which went into the tunnel at the stadium.

Lorch admits that it was a tough day at the office, which was made tougher by Sundowns’ apparent mind games.

‘I’d like to thank God for the talent he has given me. It was a tough day. It started off the pitch where their security [personnel] did not want to allow us into the Stadium,” Lorch said on SuperSport TV.

‘Then it went into the runnel. So we had to fight. They just wanted to distract us. But we kept on fighting you know.

‘They were playing mind games but we were strong mentally. That’s why we managed to play like this/

‘The recovery, our fitness coach [made us] to recover from the game we played against Polokwane City [on Tuesday]. Credit must go to him, the technical team and the coaches for believing in us,’ he concluded.