Stellenbosch won their first-ever major trophy after beating TS Galaxy 5-4 on penalties at the Carling Knockout Cup final.
Reflecting on the final, Stellies coach Steve Barker said it was a hard-fought victory and he was proud of the team, the effort, and the club for what they’ve achieved.
“Regarding the match, it turned out to be a hard-fought, gritty cup final between two teams that were desperate to get silverware. The football itself and the tactics eventually sort of fell out the window and it was just about digging deep and the desire and hunger to persevere and to be resilient and to continue doing what you have to do in the field of play.
“I think my players were unbelievable the way they just continued to put in such committed performances.” said Barker.
Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker after they won the Carling Knockout by beating TS Galaxy on penalty shoot-outs. pic.twitter.com/dWcgRIX6Xf
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Stellenbosch FC striker Iqraam Rayners won man of the match for the fourth time in a row, scooping up a total of R400 000 throughout the competition for the awards.
Speaking on the road to the final Deano van Rooyen said it has been an incredible journey.
“It started a couple of years ago when we got promoted to the PSL. We played in the MTN and Nedbank Cups and we had a fallout in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup. It wasn’t a nice feeling, but we kept going and we knew we were going to make it to the finals if we played like we always do. Winning the finals was an amazing experience.” said van Rooyen.
The new Carling Knockout champions will take on the Carling All-Star team, which will be selected by fans, on the 6 January at the Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane.
According to Carling Black Label Brand director Arne Rust, there have been more the 2.5 million votes for that team.
“I’ve had some reporters call it the ‘If Bafana were chosen by the fans team’ because we have some Kaizer Chiefs players in there, some Orlando Pirates players, AmaZulu is also represented so it’s going to be fascinating to see how they fare against a victorious Stellenbosch side,” said Rust.
