Steve Barker breathes sigh of relief after first league win

Stellies edged Marumo Gallants 1-0 following a Langelihle Phili strike just after half-time, and held on for all three points at the Danie Craven Stadium. 

Barker’s team had mustered up one draw and two losses in their first three outings, and the coach knows they needed a win soon rather than later.

"It was an important win for us, we needed to win tonight and credit must go to the players for just showing the commitment that they always show," said Barker.

"I believe from the 10th [of August], in the last 16 days, we've played six matches with a lot of travelling, so it wasn't easy and we had to show and dig deep to get the three points this evening.

"So what I'm most proud of is just the way we won the game, how we fought hard for each other to get the three points, and hopefully on another day it will be a little bit more fluid, having more control of the ball and that, but today is just well done to the players."

Amid their hectic league and MTN8 schedule, Barker is also happy to have a few days at home before hosting reigning champions Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday, and looks forward to the international break next week.

"Yes, coming off the travel to Pirates, we didn't come back and went straight to Polokwane, so to have qualified for the [MTN8] final and getting our first home win is what we needed," he added.

"And now having an extra day of recovery because Sundowns play [on Wednesday] and have to travel, we have to put in one big effort on Saturday and we have a bit of a FIFA break so we can give the players 3-4 days off to just regenerate after this hectic period."

READ: Barker happy with Stellenbosch’s back-to-back MTN8 finals