Stellenbosch defeat TS Galaxy on penalties to claim Carling Knockout Cup
Ten-man Stellenbosch FC defeated TS Galaxy 5-4 on penalties to claim the Carling Knockout Cup on Saturday afternoon at the Moses Mabhida Stadium after the match ended 1-1 in 120 minutes.
This is the maiden trophy success for the Western Cape side since they were promoted to the DStv Premiership in 2019.
Galaxy came to the match having not defeated Stellenbosch in history. In their ten meetings, the Winelands side won seven times while the other three were stalemates. This result extends the wait for Sead Ramovic’s side to get the better of Steve Barker’s men.
Both teams began with higher gears as they looked to open the scoring in the early exchanges. Stellies were threatening when they reached the final third with their speedy attackers seeking a breakthrough.
The first big scoring chance fell into Stellenbosch’s way as Fawaaz Basadien set up Iqraam Rayners, however, Fiacre Ntwari expertly dealt with the striker’s attempt to keep it a 0-0 scoreline.
Thereafter, the play was somewhat cagey with a lack of opportunities from end to end as both teams refused to open up.
LEHLOHONOLO MOJELA BROKE DEADLOCKS BEFORE HALF-TIME
TS Galaxy broke the deadlocks just two minutes before half-time catching the home side napping. Lehlohonolo Mojela rattled in a cracker after the Winelands side failed to defend a corner kick.
The match went to a break with Galaxy leading with a one goal to nil.
Sead Ramovic made his first change, bringing on Samir Nurkovic for Marks Munyai. The Serbian striker had an opportunity to add the second for his side on the scoreboard but he skyed the ball over the bar.
With Steve Barker’s troops searching for a leveller, they kept on forcing TS Galaxy to stay in their half, however, the action wasn’t missing completely at the other end with Tim Sukazi-owned team looking to exploit the space behind when regaining possession.
In the 63rd minute, Antonio Van Wyk, Nhlanhla Mgaga and Andre De Jong entered the fray as Anicet Oura, Jayden Adams and Nduli were taken off. The trio’s introduction made some impact for the Western Cape outfit as they kept on exerting pressure on Galaxy.
ISMAEL TOURE’S LEVELLER
Stellenbosch leveled the scoreline in the 73rd minute through Ismael Toure who picked up the pieces and beat Ntwari after Devin Titus’ ground shot seemed to have deflected off Galaxy’s defenders.
In the 82nd minute, Sage Stephens made a wonderful save to stop Sphiwe Mahlangu’s shot from close range. In the last ten minutes, it was the Mpumalanga-based side that was knocking non-stop, asking questions to Stellies’ defence but couldn’t find a killer pass.
The match went to extra time as the match couldn’t be decided in the 90 minutes.
Inside the first 15 minutes, both teams lowered the tempo somewhat as fatigue started to creep in. Mlungisi Mbunjana came close to stealing the game just before the end of the first half but his header couldn’t hit the target.
Just before the referee blew for the penalty shootout, Basadien received a red card as he seemed to have insulted Mojela. Stellenbosch FC went on to claim a 5-4 win on penalties to lift their maiden trophy in the top-flight.
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