They lost the clash 5-2 aftert taking the lead in the first minute through Letsie Koapeng's strike.
“If you check the first goal, it was loss of concentration in the set piece. And then the second one, again another mistake as the player wasn’t picked and they scored.
“The situation in football is simple, when you missing too many chances to score over the opponent, they have a chance to come back," Palacios said. Tuks equalised in the first half and then added four unanswered goals after the break to 4-1 up.
“They had a chance to come back and used it. In the third goal, their player came around our defender and they scored. The penalty, you can’t dispute with the referee. The fourth goal was a shot from outside the 18 box.
“It was all because of lack of concentration, but throughout the game we didn’t convert our chances. In the first half, had we converted the three chances we had, the half was going to end 3-1 in our favour," he continued.
“You create chances and you don’t score, the opponent will take the chances, it’s normal in football.”
"WE WERE SUPPOSED TO WIN"
Pirates' players didn't put their heads down despite trailing by three goals. They created a number of chances that would have made them go level.
“The last 20 minutes of the second half, we were all over Tuks. How many chances did we miss? You can count. We lost the game, but we were supposed to win if you compare the chances that we had. It wasn’t because they were superior to us or they control the game, it wasn’t like that."
Palacios also lamented the abstence of Siphesihle Sangweni, who was loaned to National First Division side Golden Arrows during the transfer window.
“Another thing is, we also lost the rhythm. Why? Because for six games Siphesihle Sangweni was playing immensely. Now, you have to check how many games we played with the combination of Vieira (Lehlogonolo Masalesa) and Sangweni.
“It was against Aces, Free State Stars and thirdly, against Sundowns. For three games we continued to play the same midfield. On this game Sangweni was missing, no matter the reason, we lost the control of the midfield. Because it was the first game that we start playing 4-4-2 in the whole tournament. The players tried their best,” said the club's former first team coach.
Pirates also had two players in the national Under-17 team ahead of the quarterfinal encounter.
“Another thing, Khumbulani Mkhize and Siyanda Ngubo only arrived on Wednesday from Russia.
“All that hampered all the preparations, but we not making excuses. We lost because we could not convert our chances and changed our normal football, the way we play."
GREAT COMPETITION
Palacios is nontheless pleased that Sangweni will now be playing on a even bigger stage in the NFD.
“The chairman is right, he wants to see Sangweni playing in another level. It’s an opportunity for him, we are happy.
“The Diski Challenge is a great competition, we are happy with what we achieved, while were learning. The aim was to make the players ready for promotion to the first team, it was good for us.
“Secondly, we gave an opportunity to the first team players to play in a competitive environment and they are happy.”
The South American coach still find it hard to believe they lost by such a big margin, “But to lose 5-2 (Palacios laughed), it’s football.”
“But my concern is, you missing chances, you don’t convert your chances – the opponent will come back. And they opponents had four chances, they scored.” “We had a chance to come back. One goal was disallowed for offside, but it was not offside. We could have easily gone to a 4-3 score line. Our last substitute also got an immediately chance after coming on, it was going to be 4-4."
NOT DISAPPOINTED
Pirates will now have the regroup and look forwarding to progress even further next season.
“We are disappointed that we didn’t go to the third round, but we are learning from the mistakes. But I’m happy because we mixed the development with the first team. And these kids are a good bunch, because already we have one player going to the first division on loan and one is with the first team.
“And we know which players can play for the first team, because they are good. We have Neo Marks, Lehlogonolo Masalesa. We do have players and we will continue to prepare," he emphasized. .
Palacios mentioned that he lauded his players after the match for the way they imposed themselves.
“The message was, we tried our best. We didn’t convert the chances we could have scored and we fought hard in the last 15 minutes,
“We are learning, especially the players who missed the chances - the strikers, the midfielders. They need to go to the field and practice, that’s all. We can’t be disappointed and shout, we tried our best. We are happy."
The youngsters will now focus on their local league, where they will be hoping to do well after gaining lot of experience in the Diski Challenge.
“The players in the first team, will go back. And the players in the development, we return to our league, we play in the Soweto league. We won’t stop training, the league will be played on Saturday."
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