Steve Barker celebrates vital point gained at SuperSport United

Iqraam Rayners scored his sixth goal of the season to cancel a first-half goal from Bradley Grobler as Stellies drew 1-1 with SuperSport at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Friday night. 

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Barker, speaking to SABC Sport after the match, was satisfied with the outcome upon his side's first match back from the lengthy, six-week midseason break.

"We would like to, obviously, [get a place in CAF competitions] – that is sort of our ambition, so it's almost a six-pointer type of game, if you lose and it's a six-point gap, which you don't easily claw back against a team like SuperSport," said Barker.

"So staying in touch and getting that point, not allowing them to get away, was important for us."

The Cape outfit subsequently extended their unbeaten run to eight matches in the league – and 12 overall, since they last lost 3-1 to runaway log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns in September last year, and Barker has credited the fighting spirit in his group.

"I think it was after the second or third throw-in when we scored a bit of a scrappy goal, but sometimes you've got to work hard and then you get these scrappy goals that put you back in the game," he added.

"The last 20-25 minutes, it was basically – I don't think the best game to watch, from a spectator point of view, they threw on [Etiosa] Ighodaro, the big lad, and [Bradley] Grobler was still on, so they played quite direct.

"We always looked a little bit threatening from counter-attack situations, so ja, all in all, it's a tough team to play away from home so we had to fight hard today, and I think it's a great point for us – it takes us now, I think, eight games unbeaten with six wins and two draws.

"So we take that point away from home and we just have to make sure when we get back home, our next league match against Chippa, we look to get maximum points."

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