Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker was relieved that they finally ended the hoodoo against Kaizer Chiefs.
Stellies faced the Chiefs five times this year before the recent Carling Knockout Cup last 16 with the Cape Winelands outfit losing four matches receiving two red cards in two of those ties.
The Barker-led side ended the hoodoo after eliminating Amakhosi 5-4 via penalties with the mentor left pleased with the performance even though they received the red card towards the end of the extra time.
“I never wondered, holds grudges or looks to beat the team because of one, two, three, but I had a strong sense and the message was to the players that this is an opportunity for some redemption,” he told the media.
“We’ve had close calls; we’ve had red cards go against us and tight games and having lost to them three times last season and already this season. Apparently, we’ve played them five times in one calendar year. So, it was just important for us not to lose a fifth game on the trout against them.
“So we just had the message was, it’s our opportunity to just, first of all win a game so we can get into the last eight, the main objective, and the second objective was to try and keep 11 players on the pitch as long as possible, which we did today, fortunately, until the last bit of the game.
“But it was important win for us against a team that’s basically been beating us too regularly for our own life.”
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