Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker will feel that his team deserved more than a defeat after running Mamelodi Sundowns close on Wednesday night.
The PSL champions won 1-0 at Athlone Stadium thanks to an early goal from Themba Zwane as Downs closed the gap on leaders Kaizer Chiefs to four points with a game in hand.
But they looked vulnerable against a fired-up Stellies side even after their opener, with local youngsters Ashley du Preez and Lelethu Skelem causing Pitso Mosimane’s manne all kinds of trouble at the back.
And coach Barker says his players did him proud despite missing a number of big names.
He tells SuperSport: “We made them defend tonight, we got a lot of joy in behind, a lot of corners out of it, so ja we maybe just lacked the final pass or the final decision, in the final third to get the goal I think we deserved. But again, very proud of the effort of the players.
“We had some big players not available, Robyn Johannes, Nathan Sankala, Mpho Matsi, so ja I’m very proud of the effort.”
OUT: Robyn Johannes was out of play when Stellenbosch took on Mamelodi Sundowns. Picture: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix.
The result left the top-flight newbies just seven points above the bottom of the table with six games to play and Barker warns things could get in the run-in.
He adds: “We still got work to do, it’s tight at the bottom of the log, we’re only four points clear of the playoff position, so there’s some big games coming up for us.
“Fortunately, we do have four of the games of teams around us all in Cape Town, starting with [Golden] Arrows, tough team to play against, followed by AmaZulu, Cape Town City and Chippa [United] must also come here.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/AbsaPrem?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AbsaPrem- HALFTIME:
Stellenbosch 0-1 Mamelodi Sundowns @Masandawana go into the break ahead of @StellenboschFC as they look to close the gap on Amakhosi at the summit of the #AbsaPremiership.
Watch the second-half live:
📺SS4 (SA) & SS9 (ROA)
📱 https://t.co/3wUsZ1pF9y. pic.twitter.com/AU7NeJstiz
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV)
The Brazilians will now look to their Nedbank Cup quarterfinal clash against at Highlands Park on Saturday.
Nedbank Cup quarterfinal fixtures:
- Friday: Real Kings v Bidvest Wits (8pm)
- Saturday: Baroka v Black Leopards (3pm), Highlands Park v Mamelodi Sundowns (6pm)
- Sunday: TS Sporting v Bloemfontein Celtic (3pm)