After a semifinal cup win against SuperSport United at the weekend, Ajax Cape Town were on the receiving end of a last-minute heist at the hands of Maritzburg United on Tuesday.
Steve Komphela was happy to call his team's 1-0 win a "smash-and-grab", but Ajax should have walked away with three points.
A late Mohau Mokate goal salvaged the game, but the Team of Choice would have been nowhere without Shuaib Walters, whose man-of-the-match performance made the difference.
"Any win would be deserved but I thought Ajax deserved better. They had more chances and testimony to that is Shuaib getting man of the match. He had a great performance and was superb with the one-on-ones. Regardless of how the win comes, three points at this stage of the season count, and you take them whichever way they come - but it was a smash-and-grab," Komphela said.
Komphela's selection of Walters ahead of the in-form Virgil Vries raised many eyebrows as the experienced goalkeeper has not had much of a look in this season. Walters repaid the faith shown in him with a string of saves.
Ajax coach Roger de Sa shrugged off the defeat as one of those that were unavoidable.
De Sa said his young guns played some good football but he could not resist taking a dig at Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane's complaint about the Nedbank Cup final being taken to Port Elizabeth.
"This distance from Cape Town to PE [is] probably the same [as] from Johannesburg to PE. It makes common sense to take the game there but for the future, what should happen is that before the competition starts, they need to decide where the final is going to take place before the end."
Komphela sings Ajax's praises
After a semifinal cup win against SuperSport United at the weekend, Ajax Cape Town were on the receiving end of a last-minute heist at the hands of Maritzburg United on Tuesday.
Steve Komphela was happy to call his team's 1-0 win a "smash-and-grab", but Ajax should have walked away with three points.
A late Mohau Mokate goal salvaged the game, but the Team of Choice would have been nowhere without Shuaib Walters, whose man-of-the-match performance made the difference.
"Any win would be deserved but I thought Ajax deserved better. They had more chances and testimony to that is Shuaib getting man of the match. He had a great performance and was superb with the one-on-ones. Regardless of how the win comes, three points at this stage of the season count, and you take them whichever way they come - but it was a smash-and-grab," Komphela said.
Komphela's selection of Walters ahead of the in-form Virgil Vries raised many eyebrows as the experienced goalkeeper has not had much of a look in this season. Walters repaid the faith shown in him with a string of saves.
Ajax coach Roger de Sa shrugged off the defeat as one of those that were unavoidable.
De Sa said his young guns played some good football but he could not resist taking a dig at Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane's complaint about the Nedbank Cup final being taken to Port Elizabeth.
"This distance from Cape Town to PE [is] probably the same [as] from Johannesburg to PE. It makes common sense to take the game there but for the future, what should happen is that before the competition starts, they need to decide where the final is going to take place before the end."
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