Chippa United head coach Eric Tinkler feels they did all they could to win following their 1-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane over the weekend.
Gaston Sirino scored the solitary goal of the match. The Brazilians managed to keep the Chilli Boys at bay until the end of the match.
The defeat was the second Chippa have suffered at the venue.
But Tinkler was quick to point out that he was content with the performance of his men.
“I mean the performance was very good, especially in the second half,” he said.
“First half we gave them too much space, especially in the wide areas. We didn’t match them in terms of numbers and it became very easy for them to put in crosses and picking up the second balls. We weren’t dealing well with it.
“We weren’t pressurising the opponents enough and they caused problems for us and that’s where the goal came, but once we rectified those, we were back the game.”
Tinkler said if they had converted the opportunities created they could have wrapped up the game.
“We were the better team in the second half and I think we deserved something but unfortunately that’s not the case. I can’t fault the boys because I think they worked very hard.
“They played an entertaining brand of football and they stuck to the game plan and in my opinion it worked. We just didn’t ride our luck. We did create but we just didn’t find the back of the net.
“I said that we’d get very few chances against a quality team like Sundowns. When you get a chance you must punish them and we didn’t do that.
“We have to keep motivating the boys because there’s no point in complaining and crying about it. We have to keep motivating the boys and boost the morale of the players.”
The Chippa mentor said he was not sure that not playing every week will do any good for the team as they will be going away to Kaizer Chiefs in two weeks’ time.
“What we need right now is consistency and this break kind of sets you back. It’s different if I had the ability to play a friendly match in this break and a competitive match, but I can’t because there’s no PSL team here. I’ve got to arrange games against a [ABC] Motsepe League team, and what motivation will the players get from those friendly games? It’s not competitive enough and I don’t think the break is good for us.
“I would prefer to be playing in another three or four days’ time to keep the momentum going.”
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane said it was a game of two halves, but he was happy he managed to get three points.
“The first half belonged to us but in the second half Chippa fought. They really showed they wanted to win the match, they wanted to equalise,” he said.
“They were very aggressive in terms of attack. At one stage I saw three strikers inside my box but our defence was good.
“They created chances and they could have hurt us, but with the experience we could manage things.”..