Cape Town – Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker believes his team stopped playing after taking a two-goal lead against AmaZulu at the Danie Craven Stadium.
Stellies scored two second half goals through Stanley Dimgba and Ashley du Preez, but had to settle for a share of the spoils with Usuthu after conceding twice in the final 30 minutes. Sphesihle Maduna struck AmaZulu's first goal, but it Keegan Buchanan's equalizer that was indeed a bitter pill to swallow after the substitute benefitted from the swirling wind in Stellenbosch to curl in his shot directly from a corner with just two minutes remaining of regulation time.
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"The wind didn't make things conducive, but we managed to get ourselves into a two goal lead. Something we really need to address though is that when we do go take a lead we tend to go into our shell and not continue to play," Barker said.
"Two disappointing goals to give away and only walk away with a point. But in saying all of that we were still able to pick up point even though not playing well against a good team like AmaZulu."
Despite the disappointment of squandering a two-goal lead, Stellenbosch remain the only unbeaten team in the league along with champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
Barker, though, was more frustrated with his team's performance rather than the result as he felt they are a much better outfit than what they served up on Saturday afternoon.
"From a performance point of view it wasn't anything near to what we are capable of. I am a little disappointed in the overall performance of the team. We seemed to lack fluidity and werent able to keep the ba for long periods enough, especially in the first half. We had a chat at the break abour going back to basics," he said.
Stellies have precious little time to reflect as they need to prepare for a visit from Orlando Pirates, who also played to a goalless draw against Golden Arrows on Saturday. The Soweto giants are due in the Winelands on Wednesday (5:30pm) start.
IOL Sport