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Johannesburg - Moroka Swallows coach Zeca Marques was delighted with a point after his side played out a 1-1 draw at Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday night.
According to the Soccer-Laduma website, the Dube Birds matched their star-studded opponents stride-for-stride and saw a number of decent chances kept out by Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune.
Marques admits that it was a point they had to fight for, but feels that his side stuck to their game plan and could have had the win.
"You can never steal anything from this place, people never give you that chances. I think the Man of the Match was (Itumeleng) Khune, he made three or four magnificent saves compared to what Greg (Etafia) had to do," said the coach.
"Overall I'm delighted, I said we wanted a point. We knew it was going to be a difficult task. Take into consideration that we haven't played for three weeks, match fitness is not there, and I think the draw was a great morale boost for us.
"I think we've got a well-balanced squad. We've got players that can play in different positions, which is important in modern football. We've got young exciting players, obviously the experience is not there, so when you playing against Chiefs at the FNB Stadium the pressure is going to count. But I thought they did exceptionally well.
"Collectively it was a great team effort, they showed character, we stuck to the game plan. I told they players that we were coming for the draw but we were going to try and steal the three points. Unfortunately it is not always up to us."
According to the Soccer-Laduma website, the Dube Birds matched their star-studded opponents stride-for-stride and saw a number of decent chances kept out by Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune.
Marques admits that it was a point they had to fight for, but feels that his side stuck to their game plan and could have had the win.
"You can never steal anything from this place, people never give you that chances. I think the Man of the Match was (Itumeleng) Khune, he made three or four magnificent saves compared to what Greg (Etafia) had to do," said the coach.
"Overall I'm delighted, I said we wanted a point. We knew it was going to be a difficult task. Take into consideration that we haven't played for three weeks, match fitness is not there, and I think the draw was a great morale boost for us.
"I think we've got a well-balanced squad. We've got players that can play in different positions, which is important in modern football. We've got young exciting players, obviously the experience is not there, so when you playing against Chiefs at the FNB Stadium the pressure is going to count. But I thought they did exceptionally well.
"Collectively it was a great team effort, they showed character, we stuck to the game plan. I told they players that we were coming for the draw but we were going to try and steal the three points. Unfortunately it is not always up to us."
