Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker said he was disappointed with the result but not his team’s performance as they let slip a halftime lead and went down 2-1 to SuperSport United in the DStv Premiership on Saturday.
The result ended a 10-match unbeaten home record, stretching back to mid-January, for Stellenbosch and left them on six points from their opening four games of the new season.
“I was obviously very disappointed in the result, not so much in the performance,” said Barker, whose side took the lead through Jayden Adams but then had a penalty awarded against them before allowing Grant Margeman to snatch a late winner for the visitors.
“SuperSport like to put a lot of pressure on, get a lot of balls in wide areas, play off the front man and pick up the second ball. We expected it and I felt we dealt with it very well. There was no real big chance that they created.
“I thought then on transition moments, we looked fairly dangerous and created a couple of opportunities. I thought we deserved the goal on the balance of play, although they did put pressure and kept us a little bit in our half,” added the Stellenbosch coach.
Barker said he was happy going into the change room at the break and knew the first 15 minutes of the second half would be important to see out.
“I knew that the game would become sort of more open, that they would push more numbers forward. And again, we would be able to find opportunity on the transition and there will be spaces to exploit.
“But unfortunately, they got the goal that pretty much changed the complexion of the game. It looked like a very soft penalty. We tried to affect the game by making a couple of positive substitutes to see if we could inject a little bit of more energy going forward.”
But Stellenbosch got caught themselves failing to clear a freekick which Margeman snapped up on the rebound for the 85th-minute winner.
“We probably should have dealt with it better from the initial shot and then we didn't really create too many clear-cut opportunities to try and get the equaliser.
“But I do feel that over the balance of play, that we deserved a minimum of a draw out of the game,” Barker added.
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