Banyana coach Ellis pleased by subs’ extra energy in win over Algeria

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says her charges had a slow start against Algeria in the first leg of the final qualifying round for the Caf Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

ALSO READ: Banyana take down Algeria in AWCON qualifier

The side missed a lot of opportunities only to end up securing a 2-0 victory at the Orlando Stadium on Friday.

Playing against the Algerians, a team they last played in 2014, the Banyana coach expected the North African to approach the tie by defending in order to concede away from home. But, it wasn’t the case as the Fennecs looked for an away goal which they almost got in the early stages of the game.

Hilda Magaia scored for Banyana in the 40th minute, while Thembi Kgatlana made it 2-0 in the 89th minute. 

“We analysed them, but we felt like they were going to sit back so that they don’t concede away from home,” said Ellis after the match.

“We worked a lot on playing against a low block in training, but we switched off right at the beginning and they could have been 1-0 up. I think we were in control for the most part of the game, we created a lot of opportunities, but I felt like we played at dead pace at times and we tried to tell them (players) to speed up the game, rotate the ball quicker. They (Algeria) started to put a lot of players down the middle.

“We started to go wide, which we did and through that we created a lot of scoring opportunities, but the (goals) didn’t come.”

Ellis added that the substitutions made the difference for Banyana, but warned that the tie is not over yet with the second leg coming up on Wednesday in Algiers.

 “We needed more energy in midfield, so we brought in Thalea Smidt, who gave us a lot more energy,  Nomvula Kgoale gave us energy as well and Gabriela Salgado wide and that changed it (the game) a bit. But, the tie is not over, we have to make sure that we do not concede, they are going to have to come at us.”