Stellies win boost ahead of weekend cup semifinal date

Stellenbosch’ play in their 3-0 win away at Cape Town Spurs did completely thrill coach Steve Barker but the emphatic nature of the result was just the tonic he was looking for, particularly with the Carling Knockout semifinal against Richards Bay on the horizon.

Tuesday’s victory saw Stellies climb up three places to fourth in the DStv Premiership and boosts confidence before their meeting against Richards Bay at Umlazi on Saturday to decide a place in the cup final.

“I think the big message of late has been that if we want to be a team that's challenging at the right end of the log table, if we're a team that wants to be challenging to win trophies, it is matches like this where we have to show that sort of champion mentality,” said Barker after goals from Iqraam Rayners, Jayden Adams and Darel Matsheke saw them to 20 points from 13 games.

“On paper we were playing the team at the bottom of the log, on Saturday we’re playing the team that is second bottom. If we don't learn to become champions and winners and put in professional performances and slip up against opposition like Spurs, then we're not on the right track.

“So, it's about creating that mentality among the players that we have the belief and we have the quality. We’re currently in fourth position, we are in a semifinal, hopefully going into a final, we're going onto a bigger task on Saturday.

“But that's the message … don't become complacent, don't ever think we've arrived. We know we are still many, many miles behind a team like (Mamelodi) Sundowns. That's the target, we want to close the gap, week in and week out and these are the type of performances that we need to be putting in every week,” added Barker.

His side took only eight minutes to go ahead at