Cape Town – Stellenbosch FC may be battered and wounded after a hat-trick of heavyweight matches, but according to head coach Steve Barker, the real work begins now.
Stellenbosch drew 1-1 with Cape Town City in the iKapa derby, but lost 3-0 to champions Mamelodi Sundowns and 4-3 in a penalty shootout to Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday at a packed Danie Craven Stadium in their first-ever MTN8 quarterfinal.
On paper, September’s schedule appears much less frightening, with top-flight newcomers Richards Bay visiting the Winelands on the first weekend, followed by excursions to Swallows FC and Sekhukhune United.
But with Stellenbosch in seventh place after five matches — in contrast to last season when they were undefeated and among the front-runners after 12 matches before experiencing a midseason slump in form — this is the point at which their 2022-23 campaign will be made or ruined.
“Last season, we were six points ahead of Cape Town City, six points ahead of Chiefs, and four points ahead of Sundowns, which allowed us to finish as highly as we did” (fourth). This season’s task is definitely to repeat such performance, which is not realistically attainable. “We’re still competitive against all those larger teams, but scoring as many points as we did last year may not be possible,” Barker said.
“Our next home game is against Richards Bay, and those are the most important games for us this season.” I believe it will be crucial how we do against so-called minor teams such as Richards Bay, Sekhukhune, Chippa, Golden Arrows, and the like. We did not earn as many points against them last season as I believed we should have, so that is our problem.”
How can Barker encourage his players for a match against Richards Bay, especially after they experienced a taste of the big stage against Chiefs last Sunday in front of a packed house?
“It will without a doubt not have the same atmosphere, but as a huge game, it is much more crucial if we want to return to the MTN8. These are the contests that we must win,” he remarked.
“One of the keys to our club’s success is our tenacity and ability to recover from setbacks. It is crucial that we honor our commitments as a group by demonstrating the ability to recover.”
Richards Bay has already defeated Arrows and Sekhukhune this season, proving they are more than capable of competing with the league’s top. Stellenbosch would be foolish to dismiss Richards Bay.
They also feature former Stellenbosch mainstay Sibusiso Mthethwa, who will be anxious to prove that his previous team made a mistake by releasing him at the end of last season.