Milford coach points out difference between Chiefs and Stellies’ clashes
Milford FC chairman and coach Xanti Pupuma has pointed out a difference between a clash where they beat Kaizer Chiefs and a match where they suffered a 6-1 trashing against Stellenbosch FC.
The Stallions were knocked out of the Nedbank Cup in what was in the Round of 16 under the lights of the Princess Magogo Stadium on Friday.
In the first round, the Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit shocked Amakhosi, beating them on penalties, finishing their hopes to end the ninth-year trophy drought this season.
Having presented a strong fight against the Soweto giants, one wouldn’t have expected Steve Barker’s side to walk in the park in Durban.
However, the Western Cape side came with a rain of goals with Andre De Jong and Anicet Oura bagging braces while the first goal of the match was scored by Devin Titus.
Meanwhile, the first-half strike from Menzi Chili was nothing more than a consolation for the home side.
Recalling their Last 32 clash against Chiefs, Pupuma believes had Ashley Du Preez scored the early clear-cut chance he had, the result could have been different. He says denying the Glamour Boys an early goal propelled them to victory.
On the other hand, the full-time gynecologist said Stellies were quick to show that they are “a class above” them with two goals in the first stanza.
MILFORD COACH XANTI PUPUMA COMPARES CHIEFS AND STELLENBOSCH CLASHES
“This is my understanding, when you play a lower team, if they can hold on for a certain time, it gets to a point where it’s frustrating for you as a so-called [big team],” said Pupuma.
“And then you start panicking, making mistakes and then it becomes more difficult for you to score, that worked for us in FNB.
“They [Stellenbosch] scored in the first half and they scored the second goal which really took us off. And we kind of lost confidence a little bit, but we scored, came back.
“We were like, ‘Okay we’re in it’ but they quickly showed us that, ‘we are a class above you’.
“So, it worked, their plan worked, so that’s what killed us. That was the difference between here and FNB.
“Had [Du Preez] scored in the 4th minute, that shot that hit the post. Maybe it would have been a different result.
“Hence, Chiefs missed a penalty extra time because they were panicking, they were already panicking. And we knew that and we worked on that to overcome that game.”
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