Athlone off limits due to drought

NFD sides have to play outside Cape

Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker is not feeling hard done by after the Premier Soccer League’s (PSL) decision to halt all the three Western Cape National First Division ( NFD) clubs from playing at Athlone Stadium because of drought.

Stellenbosch, Cape Town All Stars and Ubuntu Cape Town have been using Athlone but now the ground no longer meets playing standards because water to irrigate the grass is restricted.

The trio now have to source grounds from other provinces.

At the weekend The Stellies played their first home match away against Jomo Cosmos at King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban. The match ended in a 2-2 stalemate, leaving Barker positive that they will cope with playing their home fixtures away.

“One has to try and deal with it [playing home games out of their province] with a positive manner.

“There is no use complaining. We must be mentally strong to handle this. I am confident we will cope,” Barker told Sowetan yesterday.

“Wewere the better teamon the day [against Cosmos]. I was not happy with a point, we should have won, especially because it was [technically] our home game. It is not an ideal situation but we must soldier on as professionals,” he said.

Barker also revealed that the PSL did not approve their application to use Parow Park and NNK Stadium, which are both in the Western Cape.

He added that Cape Town Stadium was expensive.