Johannesburg – Uncle and nephew, Clive and Steve Barker, were left frustrated after their teams Mpumalanga Black Aces and University of Pretoria failed to find the back of the net, despite creating multiple chances in their encounter on Saturday night.
Both team’s goalkeepers Washington Arubi (Tuks) and Energy Murambadoro (Aces) did well to pull off some fine saves as the sides settled for a goalless draw in their Premiership clash at the Mbombela Stadium.
Aces coach Clive believed the strikers of both teams needed some introspection if they were to remain competitive in the season.
“We all just watched the World Cup and we saw how clinical the finishes were, and there’s been a lot of goals scored in our domestic league,” he said.
“A couple of players today would have looked at themselves and said, ‘We could have got the three points, had I side-footed the ball instead of trying to blast it’.”
Steve meanwhile was also disappointed with his strike force, though he was satisfied with his team’s all-round effort.
“I think it was a performance full of commitment and hard work, once again, from our players,” he said.
“In the 90 minutes we probably created the better chances, but we need to be more clinical and ruthless when we’ve got teams on the back foot, and there were stages when we were on top of the opposition.
“We need to take the opportunities that are given to us, but overall I think it was a tight match and it could have gone either way.”
Tuks shot stopper Arubi, who was man-of-the-match, was pleased to keep out the opposition for the first time in five league matches this season.
“It was a tough game for both teams,” Arubi said.
“They were trying to come at us goalkeepers, but at least both of us managed to keep a clean sheet.” – Sapa