Relief for Barker after Stellenbosch success

Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker says there is relief after his side got through their MTN8 quarterfinal at the weekend, beating TS Galaxy 3-1 at home as they got the new season underway.

They now await the semifinal draw to be made after the completion of the quarterfinal ties this Sunday.

“Whenever you have your first match of the season, there's always a little bit of apprehension going into the match,” Barker explained.

“You are not 100 per cent sure where you're at, regardless of amount of friendlies you’ve played beforehand.

“But I thought it went, obviously a great result for us to get through to another semifinal.”

Stellenbosch are into a fifth successive semifinal but there were times in the match at the Danie Craven Stadium that he felt frustrated.

“Personally, as a coach, I just thought that we didn't see out the game with the quality that we have for the full 90 minutes. But in saying that, it was the first game of the season, a lot of new players sort of coming in and a lot of changes. In the second half, too, the pitch had deteriorated quite a lot. So it was difficult to just keep and maintain possession.

“It was good to see where we are after what had been a bit of a challenging couple of weeks, with a lot of noise and rumours and all that flying around. So it was just managing that and ensuring we get on the field. play our first game, get through it, hopefully with a positive result, which we have. So it sets us up nicely now to go into the CAF Confederation Cup game. And then look forward to a semifinal at the end of the month.”

Stellenbosch next play Nsingizini Hotspurs from Eswatini in their African club competition debut.