Barker pleased with Stellies fighting spirit after Royal AM draw 

Twice Stellenbosch FC had to fight their way back into the game against Royal AM in their DStv Premiership meeting at Danie Craven Stadium last Sunday.

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Stellies played to a 2-2 draw with Royal AM, with the KwaZulu-Natal-based team leading the match firstly with Mxolisi Macuphu’s goal in the first half, which was followed by Tebogo Potsane’s goal, but Judas Moseamedi managed to cancel those goals two times to help the Cape Town club earn a point away from home.

Steve Barker’s side achieved this while playing with one man down after Zitha Macheke got a red card and Ashley du Preez missed a penalty. 

“It was one of those hectic games, they had chances, we had chances, we missed a penalty, got a red card, deflected offside goal, ball over the line, not over the line. But yeah, a little bit disappointed in the first half, we were to loose. We gave them too much space, we just didn’t have our structure well enough and organised. But in saying that, we had a good chance with Du Preez and we missed a penalty. So, it was not a good half for us in terms of our ability,” Barker explained. 

“In the second half, we showed good character to comeback and get ourselves back into the game. We really fought hard and I thought the substitutes made a big impact with Antonio van Wyk making an assist for Judas who scored two goals. Judas did well, he could have had a hat-trick in a short space of time, so it was good for him. Jayden Adams also had a good impact, I’m pleased in that regard. But yeah, I just think the players lack a little bit of confidence in the way we are looking to play in terms of moving and passing the ball.”

The point took Stellies tally to 32 after 22 games, while for the KZN based side, they have now accumulated 37 points from the same number of games as Stellies, and they remain in second spot on the league table.