Stellies show fight
They manage to grab a point from United
STELLENBOSCH FC showed a lot of heart and guts in their 1-1 away draw with top-three team SuperSport United at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Saturday which pleased coach Steve Barker, who said after the 4-0 midweek defeat to table-topping Kaizer Chiefs that his charges would bounce back and show their true colours.
And they did just that to grab a valuable point on the road, their sixth from eight games to go with six netted from five home ties, placing them 14th on the log.
“We’ve travelled to rivals in the top three on the table and first we beat Polokwane City 2-0 for our first win of the season and now we’ve taken a point off United, who had gone six games unbeaten,” said Barker.
“With a bit of luck we could have won this encounter, but a point is a point and every one is valuable when you see that we are near the foot of the table.
“We’ve got one more game to play this year away to Baroka FC and will look to sign off on a high note.
“I’ve said from day one that we can beat any team in the competition.
“Yes, we’ve only won twice but we’ve been competitive in all 13 games. The Chiefs loss was the first time we’ve taken a beating. On that occasion they outclassed us and we learned valuable lessons.
“Three days later we go to United and the boys wanted to set the record straight, show that the hiding we took was a one-off, and did just that.
“It was a gutsy display and to come back from a goal down after we had conceded minutes into the second half highlighted the fighting spirit in the camp, and you could see how chuffed the players were with their performance, it meant a lot to them.”
Striker Waseem Isaacs scored his fifth strike of the season after being set-up by Man of the Match Nkanyiso Zungu.
Barker closed up shop in the final 10 minutes and United, as hard as they tried, couldn’t find a way past a dogged defence.
Barker fielded three new faces in forward Ryan Moon and midfielders Junior Awona and Mpho Matsi and they all performed well, according to Barker.
“We needed to freshen up things a bit after the Chiefs game and the players brought in gave it their all, as did the rest of the team.
“It was important to give as many players in our relatively small squad game time, and it showed me that we have good depth in key positions,” he said.