Stellenbosch FC produced a scintillating second-half display to come back from a goal down and beat Royal AM 3-1 in a DStv Premiership match at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Friday night.
Stellies got back to winning ways in the league, while Royal AM suffered their second defeat of the new season.
One of Royal AM’s brightest upcoming talents Hopewell Cele did his reputation no harm as he found the breakthrough goal for the hosts in the 30th minute, adding to his debut strike against Orlando Pirates last time out.
The 22-year-old went on a mazy run that started on the halfway line, gliding through the middle before expertly toe-poking the ball past the experienced Lee Langeveldt in the Stellies goal to give Thwihli Thwahla the lead.
Stellenbosch caught fire in the second stanza and their early impetus after the break was rewarded as captain Deano Van Rooyen pulled his side level.
The right-back joined the attack before playing a neat one-two on the edge of the box, and, almost similar to Royal AM’s goal, he also gave Xolani Ngcobo in goals no chance with a powerful toe-poke drive.
𝗚![CDATA[]]>𝗢![CDATA[]]>𝗢![CDATA[]]>𝗢![CDATA[]]>𝗢![CDATA[]]>𝗢![CDATA[]]>𝗢![CDATA[]]>𝗔![CDATA[]]>𝗔![CDATA[]]>𝗔![CDATA[]]>𝗔![CDATA[]]>𝗟![CDATA[]]>𝗦!
— Stellenbosch FC (@StellenboschFC) August 18, 2023
Jayden Adams and Iqraam Rayners score in quick succession to make it 3️⃣-1️⃣ to Stellenbosch!#StellenboschFC 🍇 pic.twitter.com/Qllp3gVMrm
The home side simply couldn't handle the confidence and dominance of Stellies and began to show signs of a possible crumble as the game went into the final 20 minutes.
22-year-old Jayden Adams completed the Stellenbosch comeback in the 70th minute, as he showed the poise of an experienced finish by dropping a defender to the grave before placing his goal in the bottom corner.
Just as Thwihli Thwahla scrambled to reorganise themselves, Iqraam Rayners put the game to bed when he scored the third two minutes later.
The striker opened his account for the 2023/24 season by skilfully drifting past his man in the box before slotting his low drive in the bottom left corner.
Stellenbosch showed class, grit and fighting spirit to put their opponents to the sword.
In the other match of the day, an Etiosa Ighodaro second-half strike earned SuperSport United a narrow 1-0 win over Cape Town City at the TUT Stadium.
Matsatsantsa got their campaign back on track with a full set of points while the Citizens suffered their first loss of the season.
@ScribeSmiso