Though his side was able to bounce back to their top of the table position, following their 2-2 draw against Highlands Park midweek, Gavin Hunt still feels they could have performed much better than they did.
The Bidvest Wits coach wasn’t pleased with how his side conceded a late goal in the dying minutes of the game, following a late equalizer scored by Mothobi Mvala just seconds before fulltime.
That draw though, saw the Braamfontein outfit overtake Cape Town City at the helm due to a better goal difference they have against them. As it stands, both sides are on 20 points each.
“This is a game we should have won, and I’m not taking anything away from Highlands Park,” Hunt said. “We should have controlled the match much better. Not so long ago (last season), we beat Pirates (1-0) with only nine players in our line-up (but in this match, failed to do just that). We controlled that match.
“But having said that,” Hunt added. “I’m very happy with the fact that we are now back on top of the table again (with two games in hand). We are unbeaten as well, and that makes me very happy. We still have a long way to go though.”
Another side which still has a long way to go in terms of improving on their perfomance is The Lions of the North, who are yet to register their first league win under coach Gordon Igesund since he took over at the club. This was their third draw from their last five league matches they’ve played under the multiple championship winning coach.
Gordon attributed their winless streak to “naivety” he has in his squad, though he has experienced campaigners such Collins Mbesuma, Franklin Cale, Thanduyise Khuboni and Zamuxolo Ngalo to mention but a few, to help guide the inexperience ones in the team.
“Yes,” Igesund said. “There were certain areas during this match which I believe we were very naive in not to take full advantage of. But that’s what I expected because it’s their first experience playing in the premiership this season. I’m just waiting for the transfer window period to open so that I can strengthen squad in certain departments moving forward.”
Gordon though, said he was pleased to have walked away with a point in this one.
As it stands, Highlands are 14th on the PSL table with seven points from their last night nine league matches.
“I’m very happy with a point,” Gordon said. “Had everything gone according to plan, I believe that we could have scored at least three goals in this one. We control the game in the first 35 minutes and for some weird reason, after scoring an opener, we started panicking. We just gave the ball away which allowed them enough room to attack us. The goal we conceded in the first half was a silly one really.
“But having said that,” Igesund added. “Credit must go to the players. They worked really hard to bounce back from a 2-1 lead to find and equaliser in so late in the game.”
Meanwhile, Igesund explained why goalkeeper Tapuwa Kapini was substituted during the half time break, following a knock he had gotten in the first half.
“He just collapsed in the dressing room during the halftime break,” Igesund explained. “The doctors had to rush in and do further assessments on him. There was no way that we were going to allowing him back on the pitch in such a condition. It was not a concussion he had suffered in the first period, the doctors confirmed to us. But I’m very concerned about him.”
Independent Media