Maritzburg United coach Fadlu Davids said he was proud of what his young team had achieved reaching the Nedbank Cup final‚ even if they lost 1-0 there against Free State Stars on Saturday night at Cape Town Stadium.
The match-up of the younger‚ more energetic‚ more dynamic in attack Maritzburg and the calmer‚ more experienced Stars ended with the Free State team intelligently shutting United out after grabbing a lead against the run of play through Goodman Dlamini in first-half injury time.
Maritzburg were playing in their first cup final.
"You could see the nerves‚ you could see the tension – the passing was not as fluid as it normally is‚" Davids said of his young team's spirited but at times nervy performance.
"But we will learn‚ we will grow‚ we will get better. And we will look to next season and let's hope we can correct it then in a cup final to finally win a cup."
It sums up how United have punched above their weight in their best season in 12 years in the Premier Soccer League that Davids said Maritzburg aimed to reach a cup final in 2017-18‚ when perhaps they should have aimed to win one.
The talented young team from the KwaZulu-Natal midlands also managed a best finish in the Absa Premiership of fourth in Davids’s first full season as a head coach. He was the youngest coach in the PSL at 36.
"The most important thing I can take out of the season is the improvement of the individual player‚" Davids said.
"When I came to the club a player like [Siphesihle] Ndlovu was playing in the Castle [amateur] league. It's about how he's improved playing in the MDC [reserve league]‚ gaining those steps.
"A player like Fortune Makaringe has waited for his chance. They're improving individually as players.
"How Pogiso Sanoka has developed his game to where he is unbelievable. He's really one of the best defenders in South Africa now.
"The flexibility of these players like Bandile Shandu and Siyanda Xulu. Bevan Fransman has had a stellar season at the back.
"Each player wanted to improve all the time‚ working wherever they could to do that. They wanted to sit with the video and get information on where they could position themselves with or without the ball.
"That's really the joy I get from seeing these players. I'm proud of them for what they have achieved.
"It's very important now to set the goals and not be happy with this." Stars won their first trophy since the Coca-Cola Cup (now Telkom Knockout) in 1994.
* Marc Strydom was on Cape Town as a guest of Nedbank
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