Maritzburg could have scored six or seven goals against Chiefs‚ says Tinkler

Eric Tinkler admits he delivered a blast to his wasteful Maritzburg United side at halftime of their 2-1 Telkom Knockout semifinal victory over Kaizer Chiefs and believes they should have scored “six or seven” goals to humiliate Amakhosi on Sunday.

Maritzburg were full value for their victory‚ handed to them via a brace of goals by striker Judas Moseamedi‚ but Tinkler was left fuming by the number of simple chances they missed against a lacklustre Chiefs outfit.

“We could have punished them today. That is no disrespect to them … but the chances we created‚ they weren’t half-chances‚ it is clear-cut chances‚ we could have scored six or seven‚” Tinkler said.

“I’m a winner. I want to win things and achieve things. That rubs off on the players. My expectations are very high.

“That is why I came in at halftime‚ when we are 1-0 up‚ and I’m screaming and shouting because I am angry. I expect more.

“I am not asking for something that they are not capable of. If they were not capable of it‚ I would not be asking. But I know they are. As coaches we are tired of saying: ‘we are creating chances and not scoring’. And that was the anger that I had at halftime.”

Despite his frustration with the finishing‚ Tinkler hailed his side for the way they created those opportunities‚ and the way they largely kept the Premiership leaders Chiefs at bay.

“If I look at the first half‚ five or six clear-cut chances‚ at least three we should have scored. We should have come in at halftime comfortably in the lead. Our transitions were exceptionally good.

“Defensively, they did not cause us many issues; on the counterattack we could have done better in certain situations.

“It was a fantastic performance‚ but we let them off the hook and left that door open for them to come back. I told the players at halftime that it was very important to kill off the game,” the coach said.