CAIRO: The Alexandria-based club could not find top gear at Cairo Stadium and missed out on the chance to wrap up a second consecutive Super Cup title after overcoming Ahly in the same competition last season. They were undone by a second-half goal from Mohamed Abou-Trika, who capitalized on a defensive blunder to fire a low shot home from close range. "I'm not sad, Ahly fully deserved to win tonight," Tarek Al-Ashri told Egyptian radio after the game. "They successfully took advantage of our defensive mistakes. We were not at our best." Hodoud looked a shadow of the side who won the Egyptian Cup last season after beating Ahly on penalties. Egyptian international forward Ahmed Eid was their only source of creativity but he found little support from his teammates. "Our fitness levels were low because we are still at the beginning of the season," Al-Ashri, who won with Hodoud two Egyptian Cups and one Super Cup, added. "We adopted a cautious strategy consequently, unlike what we did in the Egyptian Cup final last season." Hodoud will shift their attention towards the crucial Confederation Cup clash at home to Botswana's Gaborone United in the second leg of the competition's round of 16. They risk missing out on a place in the group stage after losing 1-0 in Botswana. "The Super Cup prepared us well for the African encounter. We will learn from our mistakes," Al-Ashri added.
