Barker praises players’ resilience

Barker praises players’ resilience

Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker was fulsome in his praise for his players after they beat AmaZulu 5-0 away in the Betway Premiership on Thursday.

The result came despite a lengthy trip back from Morocco, where they had suffered a record 5-0 defeat on Sunday against Renaissance Berkane in the African Confederation Cup.

“Obviously, I’m really delighted with the result. It was important for us to come back after the weekend and the result that we had away in Africa,” said Barker after the result, where Devon Titus scored twice.

“Besides that, our league form in the last couple of games hasn't been exactly what we wanted it to be. We had a tough run of fixtures away to Pirates, then Sundowns, then it was SuperSport (United) away and (Kaizer) Chiefs away.

“So for us to come and put in a performance and get a result like this is really credit to the players for showing the resilience, that ability to bounce back after the defeat.”

Stellenbosch did play a second string in the match in Morocco but were back to full strength for Thursday’s clash in Umlazi.

“AmaZulu fielded a very attacking line-up and we look vulnerable, especially in the first half when we were giving the ball away, under hitting passes and then there were interceptions. It was just too open for my liking,” added Barker.

“Coming in at halftime, it was all about making sure that we took more care of the ball and didn't allow those transitions. I told the players that there will be spaces that will open up as the game goes on. With us leading, they would have to come out even more and that we would have to be ruthless in the second half when we get those opportunities, which we did.

“Credit must just go again to the way we took our goals and the some of clinical finishing and then the last 10-15 minutes was just maintaining our structure, just trying to keep a clean sheet, which is very important for us as a team,” the Stellenbosch coach said.

“To come away with a 5-0 win away from home again AmaZulu is just really a massive result for us and gets us the points that we desperately needed. Now, it’s time to get back home, a couple days to recover and then focus on the Nedbank Cup, which starts with our first game on Tuesday at home to Kruger United. We’re looking forward to that.”