Summerfield Dynamos coach Clinton Larsen admits his side were like 'a deer caught in headlights' in the opening 15 minutes against Mamelodi Sundowns.
The ABC Motsepe League saw their Nedbank Cup journey come to an end in the quarter-final stage after suffering a 5-0 loss on Saturday evening.
"Yes, in the first 10-15 minutes we were like a deer in the headlights and conceded two goals which we said we going to try and prevent from happening," Larsen told SuperSport TV.
"Don't give them the early goal, once they get that they control the game and that's exactly what happened. You know, early in the second half we get a chance to go 2-1 and then really put them under a little bit of pressure and it hits the upright and they scored the third thereafter.
"So it was backs to the wall after that, but the gulf in class was clear for everybody to see. I'm happy the boys gave it their all. We weren't good enough, we can now focus on the national playoffs.
Larsen insists lessons were learnt, which he feels will help the side going forward.
"Like I said, the first 15 minutes we didn't play at all. But after they got their second goal I thought the last 20-25 minutes we started to play a little bit and more in the second half.
"But they already had the goals behind them so they were controlling the game from that point on. But from our side I think it's a lesson learnt, we will take a lot of positives from this defeat and I'm sure it's going to make us grow as a team going forward," he said.
