Cape Town - Just when it looked like Stellenbosch might have to settle for a share of the spoils left-back Solomon Letsoenyo unleased a screamer from nowhere to crown his side's fortuitous 1-0 win over luckless Baroka in Saturday's DStv Premiership clash at a sweltering Danie Craven Stadium in the Winelands.
Letsoenyo's effort will go down as one of the season's finest. It broke Baroka's hearts after they had fashioned several first-half scoring chances, which could have decided the contest by halftime.
In the 80th minute, Letsoenyo pulled the trigger from about 25 metres outside Baroka's penalty area, and his shot whistled through a packed goalmouth before curling away from diving goalkeeper Oscarine Masuluke.
At the other end, Stellenbosch goalkeeper Sage Stephens made several fine saves all afternoon to deny Baroka.
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Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker was a highly relieved man afterwards since his team were finally able to record a win after a seven-match winless run in the Premiership. He acknowledged the sterling effort by the relegation-doomed Baroka.
“It turned out to be a difficult game, and one must give credit to Baroka for coming with a good, strong mentality," said Barker. "Baroka played to their strength and won a lot of second balls.
Kganyane Letsoenyo's rocket sends Stellenbosch into second in the #DStvPrem 🚀🟪 pic.twitter.com/l5BqI8ELi1
"They created a lot of width and managed a lot of crosses in the box. It caused us problems."
Barker said he felt Baroka was driven by desperation and felt that Lady Luck smiled on his side in the end. It was not always the case this season, since there were times when his side played well but came away without just rewards.
“Here you could see an opponent who are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table," said. "We had to weather the storm, and at times we were a little bit stop-start ourselves.
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“There were moments where we did look good when we took care of the ball. We rotated and kept it for periods, but as I said, sometimes we’ve played well and did not get rewards.
“I think the commitment and attitude to just stay in the game and kept the boys plugging away deep into the match. And then, you have those moments like the goal Letsoenyo scored. It really was a top-class goal.
“We probably needed something special. A great win and we will take it. Now we regroup and look towards one more big effort next week.”
It was Stellenbosch final home game of the year, and their final 2021 match will be against struggling TS Galaxy at the Mbombela Stadium on Wednesday.
@Herman_Gibbs