Durban - Royal AM head coach John Maduka believes his side shot themselves in the foot as they crashed out of the Nedbank Cup at the hands of Kaizer Chiefs.
Thwihli Thwahla forfeited a one-goal advantage and were eventually overcome by Amakhosi as they lost 2-1 at the Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday evening.
The hosts looked to be in control of the encounter in the early exchanges, restricting Chiefs to almost no chance at goal while wings back Thabo Matlaba and Shawne Mogaila asked questions of the Chiefs defence.
They were rewarded for their first-quarter endeavours when captain Samuel Manganyi put them in front through a set piece before a bizarre own goal by Matlaba gave the visitors a lifeline.
A clearly saddened Maduka expressed that he felt his side played a role in their own downfall as they gave away their own goal and later a penalty.
“It’s painful because we made things difficult for ourselves. This wasn’t a difficult game,” he told the media after the match.
He further added: “If you look at the game, we started well and managed to score the goal. We closed them down and they never looked like they can score, we had to score for them.”
“It’s sad for the boys because we worked so hard and I think on other days you need luck but today it wasn’t gonna be and didn’t happen.”
Thwihli Thwahla will now turn their attention towards a competitive top-eight battle while Chiefs will face Orlando Pirates at the semi-final stage of the Nedbank Cup.
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