Stellies held to Betway Prem draw away to Magesi FC
Stellenbosch FC picked up their first point of the 2025/26 Betway Premiership season after being held to a mid-week draw by Magesi FC.
Having suffered an opening day defeat to Kaizer Chiefs last weekend, Stellenbosch FC looked to bounce back when they traveled to Polokwane to take on Magesi FC at Seshego Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Steve Barker’s side made the perfect start to the match when they took the lead in the 20th minute through mecurial winger, Langelihle Phili, who showed good footwork in the box before rifling home a powerful effort.
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However, Stellies’ lead was short-lived as the hosts hit back just seven minutes later when Kgomotso Mosadi rose highest to head his side level from a corner.
A tense battle ensued throughout the remainder of the encounter as both sides looked to find the winner, with Stellies looking dangerous in transition and Magesi threatening from set-pieces, but there would ultimately be no change to the scoreline.
“…We started relatively well and got the goal, but then unfortunately conceded from a set-piece,” Stellenbosch head coach Steve Barker reflected.
“In the second half, I thought it could have been a 50-50, we had a lot of decisions not go our way in the last 20-30 minutes that led to a couple of set-pieces to defend, and I was worried that one of them would fly in.
“But, both teams can walk away feeling that they deserve at least a point, and with both teams probably feeling a bit disappointed that they couldn’t get all three. It’s probably a fair result in the circumstances.”
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Stellies’ clash against Magesi fell just three days before the club’s MTN8 semi-final first leg tie against Sekhukhune United, but Barker insists his side did not have one eye on the highly-anticipated encounter during Wednesday’s match.
“The league is our bread and butter, and we want to keep challenging at the top end and qualifying for African football,” Barker said. “We played the game to win, and that was the main objective.
“We didn’t really have an eye on Saturday. First prize, especially after losing to Chiefs, was to try to get three points.”