It took Stellenbosch FC seven games to win a match in the PSL, now the top-flight rookies have won two in a row and are up to ninth place on the standings following their 1-0 home win over Orlando Pirates at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
“What can I say, the boys have come on in leaps and bounds as I always said they would,” said coach Steve Barker. “Their hard work during the pre-season is paying dividends. We had a rocky start to our campaign made tougher by having to play six of our first eight games away from the comforts of home.
“But we grew as a team game by game and recent results show we’re on the right track. It’s amazing what we’ve been able to achieve in our first season in the top flight. Who would have thought four years ago that we would be playing and beating Pirates.”
Stellenbosch FC, who are now unbeaten in four games, produced an amazing defensive effort to snuff out 23 attempts at goal from the Sea Robbers, most of them off target due to the pressure put on the player taking the shot at goalkeeper Boy de Jong, who did have to pull off a couple of crucial saves in both halves.
The Winelands-based team were forced to live off scraps for most of the encounter, but did go on the counter-attack now and again and from one such sortie got to silence the 15 000 mainly Pirates supporters at the ground when in-form striker Iqraam Rayners struck the winning goal in the 21st minute. The youngster is easily the most prolific goal scorer out there having made a name for himself in the NFD where over two seasons he netted 31 goals, 19 of them last season.
Meanwhile, Cape Town City’s woeful campaign continues after another smart passing performance counted for nothing as Maritzburg United handed them a 1-0 defeat at Cape Town Stadium on Friday night.
It’s now 1 000 minutes since City’s last win in all competitions. One can only wonder what it will take for coach Benni McCarthy to halt an eight-game winless run.