Barker In Full Of Praise Of His Boys In Beating Pirates
Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker praised his players for their 1-0 victory over Orlando Pirates in the Betway Premiership on Sunday, marking his 100th win as a club coach at Orlando Stadium.
Devin Titus sprinted clear before beating Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine in the 33rd minute as Barker’s side revenged for having lost the MTN8 final to the same opposition in October.
It was Stellenbosch’s third successive win over Pirates in the league, having beaten them twice last season.
“Where can I start? I think Pirates started very well and I think the first five to 10 minutes, we tactically, had planned for one of two things and then Releboholile Mofokeng and Mohau Nkota played quite narrow and they were able to find, the spaces between Mofokeng, Nkota and Patrick Maswanganyi the balls behind our midfield and that caused us a bit of distress,” said Barker after the game.
“But we figured it out. Genino Palace dropped a little bit deeper to take care of Mofokeng and our fullbacks and wide midfielders had to just get closer to the fullbacks before they got into our final third and I think structurally we were lot better and I think the game settled in the remainder of the half.
“Obviously, we are a team that is good on transition and once again it showed with the ball into Ashley (Cupido) with a good pass in behind for Devin and a good finish.
“We got the goal that we wanted and it was about the rest of the half just keeping our structure and making sure that we can try and maintain the lead and go to halftime 1-0 up.
“Obviously, Pirates had a lot of possession, lots of sort half moments and near the end a bit chance which went straight to Sage Stephens. But besides that, I think we limited them to sort half chances, balls into the box, but we defended well.
“But I just want to say this, these Stellenbosch players never cease to amaze me in terms of the courage, the bravery, their commitment, the desire, the work rate, the unity, the togetherness.”
Stellenbosch’s victory came just days after a challenging 2-0 defeat to Stade Malien in the CAF Confederation Cup. “We have come off an extremely difficult week, travelling Sunday and only arrived on Friday in Cape Town, had to travel yesterday to play against a team has won seven league games in a row, a team that has a trophy (MTN8) in a bag this season,” he said.
Barker credited assistant coach Wesley Sergel for the team’s tactical setup.
“They were very high on confidence and belief so for us to come and get results like we did just all the credit goes to the players for the effort that they put in and also assistant coach Wesley Sergel who is a tactician. The way we set up the team, I thought it was superb,” he said.
“So, well done to the players and massive victory for us and back-to-back wins for us at Orlando Stadium is really special. I believe it is my 100th win as the Stellenbosch coach and to do it here, under these circumstances, is really special.”
