Cape Town City mentor Jan Olde Riekerink feels they earned Tuesday’s 2-1 win over fellow Western Cape outfit Stellenbosch on merit, praising his troops' blistering first half that saw them net both goals.
Star midfielder Thabo Nodada scored City’s first goal in the 21st minute, before versatile right-winger Craig Martin doubled the advantage eight minutes later. Stellenbosch would only pull one back via Nathan Sinkala deep in the second half’s stoppage time.
“I think we deserved to win this game. It was a game of two phases because first half we scored two goals. We used all the right spaces and the boys listened to all our instructions ... they did very well in the first half,’’ said Riekerink.
“They [Stellenbosch] put a lot of pressure on us in the second half. They weren’t enough opportunities for us to play counterattacks. We were sloppy; Stellenbosch played a good second half.”
The Citizens’ victory at Danie Craven Stadium was their third of the season, with three draws and one defeat from seven DStv Premiership outings thus far.
Since replacing Benni McCarthy in November last year, the 57-year-old Riekerink has overseen 28 games, garnering 11 wins, seven draws and 10 defeats across all competitions.
Meanwhile, Stellenbosch trainer Steve Barker thinks his players lacked that fighting spirit in the opening stages of the game, allowing City to walk all over them. The disappointed Stellies coach regrets they only scored in the stoppage time, feeling they had a chance to do so early in the second half.
“Losing a football match is always disappointing. They started on a front foot and we were not aggressive enough. We allowed them too much space ... they dominated. But even in saying that, we still looked a little bit more likely to score but we conceded a goal from outside the box [scored by Nodada],’’ said Barker.
“And then we conceded another soft goal and that changed the complexion of the game. We started chasing the game. Our response in the second half was really good. We should have found the way [to score] when we were dominant [early in the second half].’’
Stellies fight back but goes down 2-1 in Cape derby
Cape Town City coach praises players for blistering first half
Image: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
Cape Town City mentor Jan Olde Riekerink feels they earned Tuesday’s 2-1 win over fellow Western Cape outfit Stellenbosch on merit, praising his troops' blistering first half that saw them net both goals.
Star midfielder Thabo Nodada scored City’s first goal in the 21st minute, before versatile right-winger Craig Martin doubled the advantage eight minutes later. Stellenbosch would only pull one back via Nathan Sinkala deep in the second half’s stoppage time.
“I think we deserved to win this game. It was a game of two phases because first half we scored two goals. We used all the right spaces and the boys listened to all our instructions ... they did very well in the first half,’’ said Riekerink.
“They [Stellenbosch] put a lot of pressure on us in the second half. They weren’t enough opportunities for us to play counterattacks. We were sloppy; Stellenbosch played a good second half.”
The Citizens’ victory at Danie Craven Stadium was their third of the season, with three draws and one defeat from seven DStv Premiership outings thus far.
Since replacing Benni McCarthy in November last year, the 57-year-old Riekerink has overseen 28 games, garnering 11 wins, seven draws and 10 defeats across all competitions.
Meanwhile, Stellenbosch trainer Steve Barker thinks his players lacked that fighting spirit in the opening stages of the game, allowing City to walk all over them. The disappointed Stellies coach regrets they only scored in the stoppage time, feeling they had a chance to do so early in the second half.
“Losing a football match is always disappointing. They started on a front foot and we were not aggressive enough. We allowed them too much space ... they dominated. But even in saying that, we still looked a little bit more likely to score but we conceded a goal from outside the box [scored by Nodada],’’ said Barker.
“And then we conceded another soft goal and that changed the complexion of the game. We started chasing the game. Our response in the second half was really good. We should have found the way [to score] when we were dominant [early in the second half].’’
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