Debutants Herentals were overwhelmed by playing at Barbourfields stadium against Highlanders for the first time.

The Students’ coach Kumbirayi Mutiwekuziva believes the huge crowd at Barbourfields stadium swayed the match in favour of the Bulawayo giants despite the home side chasing shadows in the entire encounter.

“My players were overwhelmed by playing before such a huge crowd. Actually, this is the biggest crowd we have played against, even in Harare there are no such crowds,” said Mutiwekuziva.

“We were the better team, but the crowd affected my players. Football is not fair at times, after dominating for the entire game, you end up losing. They only created one chance and utilised it.”

Herentals went into the tie buoyed by the 1-0 win over Ngezi Platinum last weekend but succumbed to a wonder strike from Adrian Silla and lost the game by a small margin.