Barker disappointed with Stellies poor start to the league season

Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker was left disappointed after his side began their Betway Premiership campaign with a defeat to Golden Arrows.

Barker’s side suffered a shock 2-0 loss to Abafana Bes’thende in a Betway Premiership match played at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night, with Siyanda Mthanti and Lungelo Nguse scoring the goals for the KwaZulu-Natal outfit.

The defeat ended Stellies’ six-match winning streak across the cup and continental competitions.

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“It’s obviously not the result we wanted to start the season in the league,” Barker told the Stellies media.

“Football can bring you back down to earth and humble you, so it’s not the start we wanted.”

“If I look at the match, I believe if we played this game 10 times we would probably win it more times than we lose it. We played really well in the first half, but it was maybe our execution in the final third that let us down.

“The conditions weren’t easy either with the strong winds and wet surface, which meant the ball overran or we just weren’t able to get there, and then their ‘keeper made a big, big save to keep it at 0-0.

“I think if we had got that goal, it would have forced them to come out a bit in the second half and then maybe it would have been a different story,” added Barker.

“I thought we played well, and it didn’t seem as though they would score against us – I didn’t have that feeling – but we gave away a softish goal and then, chasing the game, we got exposed at the back for their penalty,” Barker continued.

Barker wants Stellies to remain positive

Barker was happy with Stellies’ display despite the loss against Arrows.

“I wouldn’t say I’m pleased with our performance, but it didn’t warrant the two-nil loss.

“It puts us back down to earth and we need to get over this as quickly as possible and learn very quickly. We are on a learning curve with the club fighting on all of the fronts this season so we must learn and move forward from this.

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“We are still positive, we’ve played seven games and won six, and we have a big game lying ahead on Sunday away to AS Vita. It doesn’t help to dwell on this loss. We have to focus on that game, and the big derby game in our next league game next week Wednesday,” concluded Barker.