Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker hailed the performance of his side as they climbed from fifth to second position in the DStv Premiership with a 1-0 win over Cape Town City on Tuesday.
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Victory away at the Cape Town Stadium saw Stellenbosch knock their regional rivals out of their spot as Devon Titus’ first half goal proved the difference.
“I think for us as coaches you don't always enjoy these kinds of matches because of the tension but I do think from a neutral point of view, it was a game with two teams trying to win a football match and really having a go at each other,” said Barker in his post-match analysis.
“And I thought it was an interesting and a good tactical battle between the two teams and obviously the desire from both teams to win the match was high. It made for a very good football match.”
Stellenbosch have now won seven of their 10 clashes with their Western Cape rivals.
“City have technically good players, they use the wingbacks really well, played with two No 10s and (Khanyisa) Mayo is in really good form. We knew they would ask a lot of questions of us, so our plan was to defend well. We knew we had to negate the wing backs, we had to make sure that they were not receiving the ball behind our lines, and the two 10s were not causing us problems.
“And I thought it worked really well. Then obviously we would be dangerous on our transitions. City do send a lot of numbers in attack, so we knew that we would have opportunities on the counter to hurt them which, ultimately, is where our goal came from.”
Barker said he felt there were more chances on the turn to catch City and win by the larger margin.
“Maybe with a little better execution and decision making on the transitions. Unfortunately, we didn't. And then obviously, they were throwing everything they could in the last 30 minutes of the game, and we had to repel a lot of the attacks and defend really well.”
The visitors were without Jayden Adams and Ismael Toure, both suspended after Friday’s 1-1 home draw with Chippa United.
“When you go onto a field and you've got 11 warriors, and whoever plays is going to fight for the badge, you give yourself a winning chance every time you play.
“So again, great performance, great three points, massive for us as a football club, to be in the position that we but obviously still a long way to go. I think we’ve got a really good unbeaten run currently and it sets us up nicely for what's going to be another tough encounter on Saturday.”
Stellenbosch have another derby at the weekend as they host Cape Town Spurs.