Stellenbosch players lavished with coach’s praise

Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker was basking in the delight of his team’s success over Orlando Pirates as they got their DStv Premiership campaign off to a successful start on Saturday, hailing the work ethic of his players.

Antonio van Wyk got the only goal of the game as the Winelands club proved solid in defence and held off a rampant Pirates attacks for a 1-0 victory.

“One of the ethos of our club is our work ethic, team unity and positivity, accountability, responsibility and authority. It all those vessels,” Barker said as the club began the new campaign on a winning note.

“We showed that with the shift that the players put in, the tactical discipline, the tactical awareness that we applied, especially without the ball, which I thought was really good.

“We knew that they would have a lot of possession and would move the ball around well, which I thought they did. But we held our defensive structure really well. And we obviously looked dangerous on transition. That was always going to be the key element in us getting one over Pirates.”

Stellenbosch, like Sundowns and SuperSport pick up maximum points in their opening match of the 2023/2024 #DStvPrem season. pic.twitter.com/cfUu9eFzBw— SuperSport Football ?? (@SSFootball) August 5, 2023

Barker said now the focus would switch immediately onto their next league game in Polokwane on Wednesday and then the weekend’s MTN8 tie against SuperSport United.

“The challenge is always making sure that the same type of work ethic and sort of attitude and discipline that we showed, we need to carry through to the next game.”

Stellenbosch played with a new centre back pairing who helped them to keep a clean sheet

“I was really proud of both Thabo (Moloisane) as well as Ismael