Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker was left disappointed after his side failed to collect maximum points against Chippa United.
The Cape Winelands side did everything to win the game but luck was not on their side. After a goalless draw in the first stanza, Stellies came out gun blazing in the second half and won a penalty in the 60th minute after Stanley Nwabali brought down Junior Mendieta. The Argentinian international stepped up and converted.
But 12 minutes later Azola Matrose took a brilliant run on the right and scored with a perfect finish, leaving no chance for Serge Stephens. Stellenbosch FC turned on the volume again and hit the crossbar twice before receiving another penalty.
However, this time around Nwabali made a brilliant save to deny Mendieta his brace, with Barker insisting afterwards his side should’ve won the game and should have taken their chances.
“I think it’s disappointing that we weren’t able to get maximum points from the game,” Barker told iDiski Times.
“I thought overall, the 90 minutes we were the better team, controlled the match for longer periods, created better chances. The last 15-20 minutes we hit the crossbar twice, we also missed the penalty.
“So when you don’t take those sort of chances it always comes back and makes it difficult for you. Unfortunately we just didn’t get ruthless when we needed to be, especially also in the first half. I thought the first 35 minutes we were very good.
“I thought Junior, [Antonio] Van Wyk and Devon Titus look really sharp and we were creating problems. We got behind them a lot, created a couple of getting behind, a header from Sihle [Nduli], another header from Sihle, one more cross across the goal.
“So we were creating more chances but unfortunately a little bit of an Achilles heel, we just giving away one or two soft goals which I believe we should’ve dealt with better and it’s not like teams are scoring goals when they creating.”
Despite his disappointment at his side’s wastefulness, Barker was pleased with how the team performed overall after the FIFA World Cup break.
“There was enough positives after the two months break to take forward, some lessons to be learnt from the game but overall I’ve got to say I’m pleased with the progress the team has shown since our last game against AmaZulu FC.”
Stellenbosch, who are winless in their last five games, return to action on 8 January when they will face TS Galaxy away from home. Barker’s men currently sit in 12th place, with 15 points from 14 games.
