A 1-0 defeat in both legs in the preliminary round tie saw the Swaziland club knocked out of the CAF tournament at the first hurdle, yet Kunene feels it was an “achievement” to hold their own against the South African side.
“We played a better side in Cape Town City, and we managed to deny them some scoring opportunities, so it’s an achievement,” he said. “We created clear chances and should have wrapped up the tie at home, but unfortunately goals win the game – you can create a lot of chances, but if you don’t score, at the end of the day you’ll end up on the losing side.”
Kunene feels a lot was learnt by his charges over both legs, tips which he hopes will be implemented by his side in the run-in to the end of their domestic season, where they currently sit second in the Swazi Premier League, trailing Mbabane Swallows by four points with five games to go.
“It will benefit us a lot, we learnt a lot from them in terms of marking with their quick players, so our defence especially learnt a lot,” Kunene said.
“Looking at the way they built up play, and their surprise passes, we gained a lot, so we will take that and implement it back home and I think it will assist us.”
Kunene however feels the level of South African football is not too far ahead of Swazi football, insisting the scoreline indicates the standard is closer than perceived.
“Not taking anything away from them, they are not that far ahead of us – if they were far ahead, we would have conceded a lot of goals instead of just losing both legs 1-0,” Kunene concluded.