Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker has praised the goalscoring exploits of Iqraam Rayners following the striker’s record-breaking five-goal haul against Polokwane City.

Stellies’ record goalscorer grabbed the headlines again on Saturday evening after scoring all five goals in the club’s resounding 5-0 DStv Premiership rout over Polokwane City.

Match report | Record-breaking Rayners fires Stellies to victory over Polokwane City

In doing so, Rayners became just the second player in Stellenbosch history to score a hat-trick for the club and the first to score both four and five goals in a single match in the Maroon jersey.

The 28-year-old’s exploits also saw him climb to the top of this season’s DStv Premiership goalscoring charts with 13 goals for the campaign so far, and coach Barker was quick to pay tribute to the Bafana Bafana international’s quality.

“What can one say? I thought it was five special goals. Every goal was from a well-thought-out, well-struck, or composed and quality finish,” he said in his post-match interview.

“Iqraam’s now climbed to the top of the league’s scoring charts with tonight’s return and is definitely playing himself into Player of the Season contention, and he showed his qualities again as a goalscorer.”

⚽️ 17′ – Iqraam Rayners
⚽️ 65′ – Iqraam Rayners
⚽️ 75′ – Iqraam Rayners
⚽️ 79′ – Iqraam Rayners
⚽️ 82′ – Iqraam Rayners

You’ve never seen anything quite like it ???? pic.twitter.com/f7BsphDerl

— Stellenbosch FC (@StellenboschFC) April 28, 2024

Following his quintuple at the weekend, Rayners has now scored a record-extending 66 goals in 128 matches for Stellies and is only getting better according to his coach’s analysis.

“He’s a natural goalscorer,” Barker added. “You can see when he’s playing, he thinks about what he’s going to do and it’s not just taking a shot. He can see that ‘If I shoot now, it will be blocked, so let me create a better angle or opportunity’.

“He’s always had that in him, but coming back from his recent Bafana call-up, his game has gone to an even higher level, especially with his link-up play which has improved a lot, and he’s scoring goals.”

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Rayners’ five-goal haul also saw him become just the second player in Premiership history to score five goals in a single league match, following James Chamanga’s return for Moroka Swallows against Platinum Stars in 2007.

He will look to add to his tally on Wednesday when Stellenbosch FC return to Danie Craven Stadium for another highly-anticipated fixture against Golden Arrows.