Larsen – The Gulf In Class Was Clear For All To See

Clinton Larsen has said the gulf in class was clear for all to see after his Summerfield Dynamos side lost 5-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns, but says reaching the quarter-finals was a great achievement for his KwaZulu-Natal ABC Motsepe side.

Dynamos lost 5-0 at Loftus Stadium on Saturday evening, but the KZN outfit’s main objective is to qualify for the GladAfrica Championship, and they are on target for that having already secured their regional league.

Larsen says the match against Sundowns was a great experience for his team, and they will take lessons going forward from this game.

“Yeah, I thought it was a great experience for my team,” Larsen said in the post-match press conference.

“A lot of my boys hadn’t played at this level, on this stage before. The one thing we tried to prevent tonight was Sundowns scoring early because we know once they do they really control affairs from that point forward. And that’s exactly what happened.

“The two early goals, I thought, we were like a deer in the headlights in the first 15 minutes. But after the two goals, I thought we grew into the game, the last 20, 25 minutes, we started to find a little bit more rhythm, more passes, but the damage was already done.

“And then in the second half, we get the chance to make it 2-1 and maybe, you know, put them under a little bit of pressure, and we hit the upright. And they immediately get the third goal.

“And when you’re chasing against a team like this, you’d rather lose six than sit back. And we kept trying to go forward, and as open as we are, we conceded the third, fourth and fifth, but I thought a good exercise, a good learning curve for my young team. I know we had some old heads out there, who really struggled in terms of the pace of the game, but as a team, I thought we tried our best, but the gulf in class was clear for all to see.

“And I’m just proud of my boys, we’ve had a great season in the ABC Motsepe league, where we went unbeaten at home and qualified for the nationals. And that has been the big prize for us. We hoping to go all the way and get qualification to the NFD. And this was just a bonus, taking part in the Nedbank Cup, for us.

“I thought we punched above our weight even getting this far so it was all about enjoying the occasion today. And I hope some of my players did just that.”