Fadlu Davids rued what he called Maritzburg United’s worst performance of the season in the first half of their 3-2 loss to Cape Town City on Tuesday‚ but praised the work of veteran Abia Nale when he came off the bench. Stand-in coach Davids led from the dugout in the absence of suspended head coach Ernst Middendorp but was left a frustrated figure by his team's showing in the opening period‚ despite the fact they went into the break at 1-1.“Definitely first half it was one of our worst performances in terms of 45 minutes of football‚” Davids said.“It was below our standard‚ our defensive line was not connected to each other‚ the distances between them was too big.”He said the second period was more fruitful‚ even if he did admonish his side for ‘switching off’ immediately after making a substitution with 15 minutes remaining that led to Lebogang Manyama’s winner. “The fighting spirit was there‚ we equalised‚ and then just when we made a change‚ the first ball that goes out wide‚ you are a goal behind again.”But on a night of disappointment‚ the one positive was the form of Nale‚ who had not played for the past three weeks but came on at halftime to great effect.“We needed someone to hold the ball in midfield‚ be a target and play between the lines. I think he did quite well‚” Davids said.“In the first half we had the ball in good positions but we just gave it away‚ we didn’t have the number 10 role to play between the lines‚ turn around and give runners the time to go past him."He did well when he came on‚ but unfortunately it was not enough.” Next up for Maritzburg is a home game against Chippa United on Tuesday.They will not be altogether unhappy with their stay in Cape Town‚ which had yielded a win against Ajax on Saturday as well.Given that the team had only won on one of their previous 18 visits to the Mother City before this season‚ three points from the six available can be viewed as a positive‚ especially as it has lifted the side into the top eight...