Barker’s message to fatigued stars: ‘We have to fight for what we want’

A tell-tale sign of a championship-cal-ibre team is their ability to perform well even when not playing their best football.

- ZAAHIER ADAMS,

Stellenbosch FC, who had recently endured a taxing sched-ule that included matches in the CAF Confederation Cup semi-fi-nals, struggled to find their rhythm against Chippa United on Wednesday night.

Yet, undeterred by fatigue and lack-ing fluidity, the Cape outfit displayed the grit and determination needed to claim all three points with a 1-0 Premiership victory at the Danie Craven Stadium, thanks to a late strike from Sanele Barns.

“You know, both teams obviously had a lot of desire to achieve different objectives,’ Barker said.

“Obviously, coming back after Sun-day and a lot of the travel and that, I could see there were signs of fatigue amongst the players. But fortunately, we found a way to win.”

Barker's halftime message to his players was a straightforward one: to focus on executing the basics.