Cape Town — Stellenbosch FC may be battered and bruised after a hat-trick of heavyweight fixtures, but coach Steve Barker believes the hard work starts now.
Stellenbosch managed a 1-1 all draw in the iKapa derby with Cape Town City, but went down to 3-0 to champions Mamelodi Sundowns before suffering an agonising 4-3 penalty shootout defeat to Kaizer Chiefs in their first-ever MTN8 quarter-final last Sunday at a heaving Danie Craven Stadium.
On paper, the September fixture list looks much less daunting with top-flight newbies Richards Bay visiting the Winelands on Saturday followed by two away trips to Swallows FC and Sekhukhune United.
But with Stellenbosch in eighth position after five matches — unlike last season where they were unbeaten and were still among the front-runners after 12 matches before suffering a mid-season drop in form — it is right here where their 2022-23 campaign will be made or broken.
“Last year we got six points off Cape Town City, we got six points off Chiefs and four points off Sundowns and hence that helped us to finish as high as we did (fourth). The challenge this season is to obviously do that again ... it’s not realistically possible. We’re still competitive against all those bigger teams, but to get the amount of points we did last season may not be the case this time around,” Barker said.
“We’re playing Richards Bay next at home and those are the big games for us this season. In my opinion it’ll be important how we handle games against the so-called smaller teams such as Richards Bay, Sekhukhune, Chippa, Golden Arrows and those type of teams. We didn’t get as many points as I felt we should have against them last season, so our challenge is that.”
But, particularly after having a taste of the big show against Chiefs last Sunday in front of a capacity crowd, how will Barker motivate his charges for a clash against Richards Bay?
“It will most certainly not have the same atmosphere, but as a big game — it’s even more important if we want to be involved in the MTN8 again. These are the games that we have to be winning," he said.
“Part of our key success at the club is the resilience and the ability to bounce back. It is important we stick to what we said we will as a group by showing the resilience of bouncing back.”
Stellenbosch would certainly underestimate Richards Bay at their own peril with the KwaZulu-Natal side showing they are more than capable of mixing it with the league’s elite, having already beaten Arrows and Sekhukhune this season.
They also boast former Stellenbosch stalwart Sibusiso Mthethwa within their ranks who will no doubt be eager to show his former team that they should not have released him at the end of last season.
IOL Sport