Goals from Hlompho Kekana and Gaston Sirino handed Sundowns a 2-1 victory over Abafana Bes'thende in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday afternoon.
"So close, so near yet so far. I thought it was classic example of we didn't have time, if we had more [time towards the end] maybe something could have happened but I thought we had a better second-half," Komphela told SuperSport after the match.
"We played much better, we were more calm, more composed, it was a Golden Arrows that we know. I thought first-half we were too anxious, too many errors, we lacked the composure to defend a free-kick.
"Then the second goal, which classifies or characterises [the first-half performance], we were all over the box, we should have done better but second-half was much better, we enjoyed the ball, we played well, we kept the ball on the ground.
"The only thing we did badly was when we played the ball in the air where it got lost, so you can't play the ball in the air, the amount of time you take when penetrating on the ground is faster than when you launch because when you launch it's 50/50 and we failed to recognise that."
Komphela went on to say that a late goal by Nduduzo Sibiya nine minutes before time made for a nervy ending for Sundowns but not exactly for his charges.
"Nervy for the opponent but for us we kept on pushing and as soon they got a red-card then it was clear. Again it tells you how tight these matches can be, the minute you get behind, you have more numbers, more space to utilise it. That's where I think we failed a bit.
"Congratulations to Mamelodi Sundowns and Pitso [Mosimane]."