Orlando Pirates head coach Woody Jacobs blamed first-half technical errors for their 1-3 loss against African Stars in the Debmarine Premiership on Saturday.
The log leaders (African Stars) scored all three goals in the first half through Dynamo Fredericks in the 6th minute, Awilo Stephanus’ long-range shot in the 22nd minute with Edmund Kambanda scoring from a corner kick in the 24th minute.
Pirates scored in the second half shortly before the game ended.
Jacobs admitted that errors cost the team crucial points, and that the players’ mentality was shifted after falling behind by three goals.
He said there were lessons learned from the defeat, and changes would be made in future tough encounters. “It was due to errors that we made in the first half; the way we considered the goals, they walked through (over) us. We were naïve in the way that we defended that first goal; we made an error that led to the second goal, and you could see that the players’ heads were dropping,” he explained.
“After we tried to restore the team’s momentum, we happened to concede the third goal through unchallenged and naïve defending. I think the mentality was not there after the three goals; it’s not easy to come back from three goals down.”
Meanwhile, African Stars head coach Mervin Mbakera was pleased with his team’s performance but disappointed with the goal they conceded in the last minute.
“We played a good game, as the players brought their A-game. The team had high energy, and we managed to score three goals. But I am disappointed with the way we conceded the goal in the last minute, which was not good. It is not good for us to concede at this point,” he said.
In other Saturday fixtures, Black Africa won 4-0 against Citizen, Eleven Arrows drew 2-2 with Life Fighters, Tigers defeated Young Brazilian 4-1 and Tura Magic won 3-2 over Mighty Gunners.
Okahandja United and Unam drew 0-0, while Blue Waters defeated Julinho Sporting. Civics suffered a 2-3 defeat to Young African.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na