Stellenbosch coach Gavin Hunt dispensed a few home truths at halftime to his side to rally them from a goal down to beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 in the Betway Premiership on Tuesday and move up three places to 11th in the standings.
“I've never seen a team so despondent from Saturday after what happened,” said Hunt of their controversial exit from the Nedbank Cup at the hands of Lamontville Golden Arrows.
“So I think we were a bit like a rabbit in the headlights for 20 minutes. And I should have made three changes in 20 minutes, but I didn't and then I thought I had to because we could have been three down there, certainly, in my opinion,” he added of the opening salvoes at Soccer City on Tuesday.
“But then I told then a few home truths at halftime and change the shape a little bit, and I thought they were magnificent in the second half for a team that has played such a lot over the last weeks and has been all over the show.”
Hunt said the result helped them to move away from the relegation zone, having been only a point above the bottom two before the match.
“I don't think (competing in the African Confederation Cup) helped this club at the moment this year. That's for sure. We've struggled really, where we had to go and what you had to do, but we'll try and move on.
“We got another game Friday, believe it or not. We haven't trained for a month. We haven't done any training, no training. It’s pretty much fixing up teams, patching up and then going again, so I'm proud of the players, but certainly the first half wasn't nowhere near what is required at this level.
"But I could see their faces coming to the game. We were really done. Sometimes the football Gods work in strange ways,” Hunt added.
Stellenbosch are next up against fifth placed AmaZulu at the Danie Craven Stadium on Friday.