Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler said his side had overcome a tough psychological hurdle in edging Royal AM in their DStv Premiership clash on Friday night and moving up three places in the standings.
A late goal from substitute Thabo Nodada ensured a 2-1 win for City that saw then jump up from 13th spot to 10th as they won for only the fourth time in the league this season.
It came as pressure was mounting on both coach and club following a poor run of form before the World Cup break.
“There was a lot of anxiety from everyone leading up to this game after this mid-season break. It leaves a lot of doubt, obviously, in your mind; is the team ready or is it not? Especially when you finished off with a poor result against Marumo Gallants (in October) and then obviously getting knocked out of the African Confederation Cup,” explained Tinkler after the match at the Cape Town Stadium where City took the lead through debutant Bertrand Mani but saw Ruzaigh Gamildien equalise before halftime for the visitors.
“It's been hard work these five weeks, trying to bring positivity back into the team. I think I saw that over the last couple of weeks, a lot of positivity, good intensity in the training but I don't think we were at our best. Our passing today wasn't great, and we gave away possession. We created one or two good opportunities in the first half. But ultimately, you know, we didn't look effective.”
Tinkler said, however, that City were due some good fortune.
“I think it's about time we got a little bit lucky because I can talk about so many games where we've dominated, where we've created the chances and we've ended up losing. Today we weren't at our best yet we managed to get a goal in the end and I think that comes a little bit from all the hard work that we've been putting in,” he added.
“Now I can be brutally honest again, we were psychologically down. There was huge disappointment all around and now was about lifting them. I've always believed that one game can change everything. Last season it happened to us. Psychologically, there was like a little switch, that everybody turned around more confident, more self belief, more collective belief, a lot more unity in the group. But like I said, you know, I've been seeing that over the past two weeks, which has been positive.”