The Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis is more than satisfied with her team's performance last in the return leg of their Olympic qualifier against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Soweto on Tuesday night.

Two late goals by the captain Thembi Kgatlana ensured a 2-0 win at the Orlando Stadium and they advanced to the third round with a 3-1 aggregate.

In February, Banyana will face either Botswana or Tanzania.

Ellis said it all came together for her young side during the second half.

“We knew at home that we needed to take charge of the game, Andile Dlamini made a great save in the beginning that kept us in.

“They had one or two half chances but so did we.

“We could have gone to the half time break with a lead and we kept saying to the team, ‘keep the intensity up, keep the width up, and the gaps will come in between. Let’s move the ball around quicker,’ and that’s what we did in the second half.”

“We made sure that we did not concede, and this was also key. I said, if we don’t concede we will create chances, which we did.”

Banyana's next assignment will be the Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burkina Faso with home and away matches late next month and in early January.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport