Steve Barker's Stellenbosch mission accomplished with 11 games left

Stellenbosch held on to third place in the DStv Premiership standings and could have been second if they did not concede a late equaliser at home against struggling Swallows on Wednesday, but coach Steve Barker is pleased with how his team has progressed.

They have 11 matches remaining, but Stellies have already managed one point more than the points haul they achieved the whole of last season.

“We set ourselves a target to get to 30 points as quickly as possible. So if we continue to play as we are we will win more games than not," said Barker after his team conceded a goal with the last kick of the match to move to 30 points from 19 matches.

“We’re disappointed with the end result. They did not look like scoring, though they had a lot of the ball and got in a lot of crosses.

“But when you don’t score a second goal you have to defend for periods of time and it opens the door for the opposition to get a goal like that.

“The conditions did not make it easy, but [we are] disappointed in not getting the maximum points after the effort everyone put in and the preparation that went into the match

“The two points slipped out of our grasp. It is an area that we have to be better at when we are leading.”

Barker knows Chippa United survived relegation by the skin of their teeth last season as they had to save the team’s lucrative top flight status via the playoffs after finishing second from bottom in 15th.

It could have been Stellies who played in the dreaded playoffs, but Chippa were held at home by SuperSport United when they needed to win to be safe as Stellenbosch drew against Arrows to avoid the playoffs.

Barker is satisfied with the progression of his team given their struggles of last season.

“There has been definite progress in the team in terms of performances. However, it is that little bit of five to 10% that we have to find to ensure that we turn these types of matches into wins and not draws.”

Barker has 10 days to plot for his next match against AmaZulu in Durban on February 26 and strengthening their grip in the top three will be first prize for the 54-year-old former University of Pretoria coach.

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