Royal AM head coach John Maduka was not happy with the manner in which his side conceded the first three goals against Orlando Pirates.
Thwihli Thwahla conceded three goals in 29 minutes at the Orlando Stadium, before Sphiwe Cele and Mxolisi Macuphu gave the visitors hope.
Bandile Shandu made the game safe for Pirates, but Maduka was not pleased with the defence in the first half.
Read | Lepasa double guides Pirates past Royal AM
"I think we made things difficult for ourselves, look at how we conceded goals. You concede goals like that, you make mistakes against a team like this, they will punish you and that's exactly what happened," Maduka told SuperSport TV.
"The fourth goal maybe they worked for it but the three goals we gave away, we were supposed to defend better. When you're playing a team like this you, you make mistakes, you can't defend well, this is the results.
"But we never gave up in the second half. We made some changes, we tried to take the game to them and when you try to take the game to them, it's expected that you'll also be open at the back," he said.
"We managed to score those two goals, 3-2, every time it was not enough, we knew at that time anything can happen, because remember you're trying to equalize when you're also open at the back."
Maduka made four changes after they went 3-0 down, as he introduced Sabelo Sithole, Cele, Jeffrey Dlamini and Motebang Sera and the changes gave them new energy going forward, as they got one goal back before the interval.
"We thought it was time to introduce those fresh legs, young boys that can be able to go forward, that can be able to compete in the field of play and I think it worked well for us," Maduka went on.
"Siya on the other side, the left-back he did very well. The young one also in the middle did very well. I think we have that energy level going forward but 3-0 not easy especially when playing away from home against a team like this but the boys showed character, we didn't give up.
"We're not a team that gives up until we manage to score. We pushed the game to 3-2, maybe the time was not on our side, when you try to push forward that's when you open. Very good second-half but very disappointed with the way that we conceded," he said.
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