Steve Barker has lauded his side’s ability to transition defence into attack after recording an important away win over AmaZulu.

Stellenbosch FC climbed to seventh in the DStv Premiership standings on Saturday after recording a hard-fought 1-0 win over AmaZulu at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, courtesy of a first-half goal from Anicet Oura.

Match report | Stellenbosch FC claim hard-fought away win over AmaZulu

Head coach Steve Barker was left pleased with his side’s performance, highlighting their ability to effectively absorb pressure before turning defence into attack to threaten at the other end of the pitch.

“In humid conditions, and with us having traveled a lot of late, we knew it would be a tough encounter physically,” Barker said.

“We were also playing against a team who are really good and who play with a lot of midfielders, who try to overload the midfield area and get their wing-backs into good positions for crosses.

“We knew that there were certain threats that they pose and I thought we dealt well with those, especially in the first half. Even though they had more of the ball, we looked more dangerous, especially in transition.

“Once we won the ball back, we showed the ability to play forward and that led to the goal and to one or two other decent chances which we should have done better with.

“Iqraam Rayners in particular was a bit unlucky not to get us a second which would have made it easier. But, at 1-0 it is always tough, and they threw a lot of numbers forward, getting the ball into the box.

“Sage Stephens had to make some big saves, including the penalty, the free-kick from [Riaan] Hanamub, and the deflected one over the crossbar at the end.

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“Everyone has a role to play in the team, and Sage did his role today and kept that clean sheet for us with some massive saves.

“Overall, I’m really proud of the effort, work rate, and commitment of the players under difficult circumstances to just keep pushing, and that’s a sacrifice that we need to continue showing if we want to be succesful.”