Black Leopards coach Ian Palmer saw his side struggling to match Ajax Cape Town’s ball playing ability, but still coming out 1-0 victors.

A goal 10 minutes from time from Jacob Obaje, the result of some amateur defending from Ajax at the Cape Town Stadium on Sunday, saw Palmer recording his first win in charge since taking over at the helm of the Limpopo side.

For Palmer, it was all about getting the result – the trip to the Mother City was not about playing pretty football, and it was effective as his side defended with determination and took their chance, one of their only of the game, when it came.

“We came here to consolidate in the first half, to stay compact and then to attack more in the second half. We knew that Ajax is a team that likes to play in between the lines and we had to avoid that. We had to try and get them on the break.

“It was always our plan to bring in two attacking players in the second half. They were comfortable coming at us because we were compact. That was the game-plan and it worked for us today,” said Palmer.

The result leaves the Urban Warriors fourth from bottom, and only two points above 16th positioned Mamelodi Sundowns.

Jan Pruijn remains in charge as care-taker coach, with the Dutchman finding himself unable to turn the poor run of form that has gripped the team.

When a side dominates a game, it would suggest that the coach has done his job correctly.

But the problem being that Ajax’s promising build-up play has too often lacked results this season, leaving Pruijn to answer for yet another defeat.

“If you are so dominant, or if you have most of the ball possession, although we did not create too many chances.

“You can work on your offensive play but if the passes from the side are not coming where we have three players then we have a problem.

“That’s what I told them at half time we had at least three opportunities from the wing but the crosses are not coming where our players were,” he said.