Desiree Ellis taking positives from their narrow win against Lesotho

Striker Nobahle Mdelwa converted a penalty past Lesotho goalkeeper Mamakhabane Makibinyane in less than 10 minutes into the second half, to secure a narrow win for the hosts.

Speaking to SABC Sport, Ellis says going forward the players will have to adapt to the South African style of play, in terms of putting the ball down and making necessary movements.

"Not so good moments but I think the not so good moments came from lack of movement of the ball because when we had the movement, we moved the ball around and when we did that, we looked good,” Ellis said.

“I felt that if we moved a little bit more, especially the two wingers, we were very stagnant upfront, they didn't give us a lot, especially in the first half. The minute they dropped deeper we were able to play.

“When we lost the ball they didn't help us there either but I thought we had control. At times it's not our game to play long, you know when they can't find anyone that is what they do but happy with what we did this week, there were some things that we worked on, that worked.

“There are some things that didn't work but as I said it's a short period of time with a young group and we wanted them to play. The excitement of the youth that just wants to run with the ball but they'll learn very quickly at this level that you can't just run with the ball.

“You need to play the ball around but there's been a lot of positives out of this match.”

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Ellis also highlighted some standout moments that were contributed through individual performances.

"It is always about the team effort, I always say if the team does well, the individuals will stand out. I thought she handled the balls well but I thought Bonolo [Mokoma] also had a very good game,” the coach added.

“I thought TK, the left back who doesn't normally play in that position had a good game. I thought Kat [Katlego Mohale] had a good game, I thought Khanyisa played really well but like I said, I don't want to single out because this is a team sport but I felt that those players really stood out and kept the team going. Kept the team moving around but we need more."