It was joy and agony at the Moses Mabhida Stadium as Stellenbosch FC broke the hearts of TS Galaxy by beating them 5-4 on penalties in the Carling Knockout final on Saturday.
Darrel Matsheke was the hero for Stellenbosch as he scored the winning penalty, after in-from striker Lehlohonolo Mojela ballooned his strike well over the bar.
Mojela was unlucky to have missed his spot kick and not walk away with the man-of-the-match R100 000 hefty cheque, as he produced yet another tremendous performance.
Stellies talisman Iqraam Rayners was voted the best player on the pitch and pocketed his fourth cheque on the row since the start of the tournament.
Both coaches went into the game with the intension to win, as they had attacking line-ups that were full of pace and creativity.
Stellies asked a lot of questions in the opening stages of the game and caused a lot of problems for the Galaxy defense.
At the stroke of halftime, Mojela scored a cracker in the 43rd minute, when he benefited from a second ball after a corner kick and pulled a venomous strike, leaving a fully stretched goalkeeper Shane Stephens with absolutely no chance.
Stellies came out stronger in the second half, as they kept on banging on the Galaxy door in search of the all-important equalising goal.
Barker’s charges continued to dominate play as they were enjoying 60% of the ball possession at the hour mark.
Changes by both coaches
Both coaches made some changes, with Barker throwing in attacking players Antonio van Wyk and Andre de Jong as he was desperate to get that crucial one goal to level matters.
His opposite number, Sead Ramovic, launched striker Samir Nurkovic and captain Mlungisi Mbunjana – a change that seemingly looked like the German mentor to control the game and bring some stability in the middle of the park.
Stellenbosch’s persistence and patient build ups did pay off in the 74th minute, when defender Ismaël Touré scored a terrific goal at close range after the ball from the corner fell on his path and got the crucial equaliser to take the game to extra time.
Even at extra time, neither side could find the winning goal and took the game all the way to penalties, where Stellies prevailed and came out top.
