Chippa United caretaker coach Siyabulela Gwambi remains hopeful amid increasing pressure to save the Chilli Boys from relegation at the end of this season.
Gwambi believes that the Chilli Boys played well despite losing 1-0 to Baroka FC in a DStv Premiership fixture at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
Chilli Boys goalkeeper Ismail Watenga made a costly blunder when he passed the ball straight to Baroka’s Goodman Mosele, who slotted it home.
“We started very, very well. We were managing the game, we were controlling the match. It’s just the one mistake we made, that was the only goal of the match. The only clear chance they had in the first half. We came back in the second half. We consolidated the midfield because we saw they were dominating in the first half. Things were better after that. It’s just unfortunate that the few chances we got we couldn’t convert,” Gwambi said.
Zwide-born Gwambi has refused to blame Watenga for the blunder he committed. Instead, he said that his defence could have done better to avoid what happened.
“It goes both ways. We thought our centre back should have cleared the ball before it got to the goalkeeper, who made a mistake because we were under pressure. The more you keep the ball in your own half the opponents are not going to stand and watch. They will come and press,” Gwambi said.
The Chilli Boys have a very difficult home fixture against Lamontville Golden Arrows on Sunday and Gwambi hopes for the best result in this game.
“That’s one game we really need to get maximum points from. I will always make mention that we might count the number of games that we have at home, those are not guaranteed points. It’s time we take advantage of the home ground starting with the Golden Arrows match,” he said.
