After coming from behind to register a 2-1 victory against Motsepe Foundation Championship side Kruger United in the Nedbank Cup last 32, the question that became apparent is: are Stellenbosch FC coping with competing on multiple fronts?
The Stellies v Kruger clash was one of three matches that took place on Tuesday night.
In the other two encounters, SuperSport United defeated Magesi FC 2-0, and AmaZulu FC smacked Mighty Eagles 5-1 in Umlazi.
Even though the Cape Town side won 2-1, advancing to the last 16 round, they struggled on the night at the Danie Craven Stadium.
Kruger opened the scoring with a goal from Onyedikachi Ononogbu in the 54th minute.
The Maroons, buoyant after their 5-0 thrashing of AmaZulu last week, had to dig deep on Tuesday – so much so that it was only with 20 minutes left on the clock that they found the equaliser from Langelihle Phili.
Even after that goal, Stellenbosch failed to put the match to bed up until substitute Chumani Butsaka combined with Devon Titus to snatch a winner with only five minutes to go.
It is also worth noting that Stellenbosch, this season’s MTN8 finalists, had presented a decent match-day squad, and another plus for them was to run out in front of their home fans at the Danie Craven Stadium.
Stellenbosch are a young side that have progressed beyond expectations, which has seen them not only competing for a decent finish in the Premiership, but literally putting their hand up for honours in every competition on offer.
They opened the season by going all the way to the MTN8 final, had a decent run in the Carling Knockout Cup and opened 2025 by making the CAF Confederation Cup quarter-finals in their first continental attempt.
The Nedbank Cup offers another realistic chance to celebrate their rise by finally hoisting some silverware.
“I think one can just sum it up and say that ultimately, the job got done, which was obviously the main objective, to get to the next round,” said coach Steve Barker about their struggles against Kruger.
“But it was not as comfortable as we had hoped it would be.
Major and Titus delivered the goods in last night's come-from-behind win 🔥 pic.twitter.com/qk15MltmEo
“I’ve also just reminded myself that it’s never easy playing teams from the lower division, especially the Motsepe Foundation League. Their teams are always up for a big challenge – they will always want to get one over the Premier League teams.”
Stellenbosch were playing their first game at the Danie Craven Stadium since August last year, and strong winds prevailed on the night.
“The conditions in the first half didn’t make it that easy, and it becomes a little bit of a leveller. I was a little bit disappointed in our decision-making in the final third after we got into good positions, but we just didn’t really capitalise,” he added.
The Maroons return to their home again on Saturday afternoon (3.30pm kick-off) against Sekhukhune United in the league.
“It was a difficult evening overall, but a lot of positives, and the fact we came back from being down playing at home (bodes well),” said Barker.
“We haven’t played here for a while, so it’s a little bit foreign, and nice to get a good win leading into Saturday’s league match.”