Pretoria University soccer head coach Steve Barker, is not worried who his giant killing National First Division outfit meets in the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup.
But AmaTuks had to sweat to reach the last eight and needed a 4-2 penalty shootout win to subdue defensive Jomo Cosmos in a dull second round cup-tie that ended 1-1 after extra time at a wet and slippery Rand Stadium on Sunday.
The last four second round matches will be completed this weekend after which the quarterfinal draw will be made.
Said Barker: “We were not at our best, nor were Cosmos. We wasted a lot of chances and could easily have changed over at halftime three of four goals ahead.
“But in the end we made it difficult for ourselves. All credit, however, to Cosmos who never gave up and forced us to penalties.”
Barker said while he is hoping to repeat or do one better than last season when Tuks reached the final where they lost 1-0 against Moroka Swallows, also at the Rand Stadium, his main priority is to build a side that can win promotion to the Absa Premiership.
But with top cup sides Kaizer Chiefs, Ajax Cape Town and holders Moroka Swallows out, Tuks believe Sunday’s win could be the momentum for another big Cup run this season.
Barker, a former hard running midfield dynamo who played most of his career at Wits University during the 1990s and a nephew of former Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker, said he was forced to start from scratch after last year’s success in the Nedbank Cup when he lost nine players to top-flight clubs.
“I have a young side and that lack of maturity and experienced showed against Cosmos where we messed up a lot of goal scoring chances. But we are coming right after a disappointing season in the First Division.
“A good Cup run again will be the boost that could propel us to the PSL and my target is to achieve promotion by 2011.
“We will, however, need to strengthen the squad before the start of the new season.”
So far AmaTuks have defeated newly promoted PSL club Vasco Da Gama 5-1 in the first round and now have taken the scalp of Cosmos who have been relegated back to the First Division after only one season back in the top flight.
Barker said that the media exposure his players will get during the Cup run would be a major help to the club’s ambitions next season. “The attention the players get in the press and television will help them mature as players.
“That is one major benefit of this Cup.”
However, Barker is confident he will not again lose the backbone of his current squad this time around. “It was different last season as we had a number of older players who were ready to move to PSL clubs.
“This time I have a younger squad and do not see many players moving.”
Barker is hoping his teenage striker, Phinda Dlamini, will not move to Premiership champions SuperSport United next season. Dlamini has talent but is still raw.
“He missed a sitter in extra time that would have give Tuks victory, but has shown enough to suggest he is a bright prospect.”
Cosmos at times looked like a side that had been relegated and were ready to go on holiday.
Even when Themba Maringa cancelled Mduduzi Makwakwa’s earlier goal, Ezenkosi still played defensively and had eight players defending when Tuks attacked.
Cosmos’ lack of imagination and their cautious approach was their downfall. — Sapa