Stellenbosch FC advance to Nedbank Cup Round of 16
Stellenbosch Football Club advanced to the Nedbank Cup Round of 16 following a penalty shootout victory over Pretoria Callies at the Danie Craven Stadium.
The Maroons kicked off their 2024 Nedbank Cup campaign by recording a narrow 1-1 (4-3) penalty shootout win over Motsepe Foundation Championship side Pretoria Callies on Friday evening.
Stellenbosch started with positive intent and pushed forward with regularity during the opening exchanges, but were unable to fashion any chances of real substance during the opening half an hour of the encounter.
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Ivory Coast international Anicet Oura fired over soon after though, before Stellies finally managed to put the ball in the back of the net, only to be disallowed by the far-side linesman’s raised flag.
That ultimately proved to be the last notable moment of the first half as the two sides headed into their respective changing rooms with the scores equally poised and with everything left to play for in the second half.
Following the restart, Steve Barker’s side took the lead in the 66th minute when Devin Titus, nominated for the tournament’s Most Promising Player last season, fired his side into the lead with a powerful right-footed drive.
Some of the best snaps from last night’s Nedbank Cup win over Pretoria Callies ????
— Stellenbosch FC (@StellenboschFC) February 24, 2024
The 22-year-old was in the thick of things immediately from the next passage of play as he set up Oura and Iqraam Rayners in quick succession, although neither forward was able to make their chances count.
Captain Deano van Rooyen was next to be denied late on by an expert save by Callies ‘keeper Tshepo Mohui before Andre de Jong, on as a substitute for Oura, was similarly denied in the aftermath.
The guests would capitalise on those missed chances by leveling matters in the 87th minute through Leandro De Sousa, with the debutant slotting home a well-placed finish to force the match into extra time, and ultimately a penalty shootout.
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There, Oscarine Masuluke pulled off two remarkable saves to put Stellies into position to win the tie, and Kyle Jurgens duly stepped up to fire the team from the Cape Winelands into the next round of the competition.
Stellies will discover their next opponents in the competition on Monday, 26 February 2024, when the draw for the Nedbank Cup Round of 16 takes place at the SuperSport studio in Randburg.