Stellies extend unbeaten run to 25 with Arrows romp

Stellies extend unbeaten run to 25 with Arrows romp

Stellenbosch (1)

Titus 1’ Oura 68’ Rayners 70’

Golden Arrows (0)

STELLENBOSCH continued their rampant form and reclaimed second place with a 3-0 over Golden Arrows at the Danie Craven Stadium yesterday.

Stellies extended their historic unbeaten streak to 25 games as goals by Devin Titus, Anicet Oura and Iqraam Rayners helped coach Steve Barker’s men seal an easy win at home.

Abafana Bes’thende, on the other hand, took a huge blow to their top-eight aspirations as they stayed in 11th place with four games to go.

With Orlando Pirates having already done their job with a win over Cape Town City, the news would have trickled into the Stellies camp as the fight for CAF spots took centre stage.

Therefore, it came as no surprise when Barker’s men flew out fo the blocks with great intensity and purpose and quickly took the lead inside the first minute through winger Titus.

The 23-year-old continued to make a strong case for a Young Player of the Year nomination as he leapt extraordinarily to score the first goal of the match.

Ivory Coast-born winger Oura showed again why he’s been a mainstay in Barker’s preferred 11 as he jinked past two defenders before floating a cross into the box that Titus latched on to before guiding it into the bottom corner.

Barker seemed to opt for continuity at this stage of the season as he made just one change from the team that trounced Polokwane City last time as midfielders Genino Palace and Sihle Nduli swopped places.

Arrows themselves might have been encouraged by teams around them in the battle for a top-eight spot dropping points before their match commenced and that approach seemed to introduce a bit of complacency in the first half.

Their 4-4-2 formation seemed to hamper them in midfield with Stellies’ 4-3-3 dominating the midfield area.

A team ordinarily associated with getting their foot on the ball and controlling the tempo of the game, Arrows struggled with the aggression and directness of Stellies, who dominated 64% of the ball possession in the first 45 minutes.

At the top of Arrows coach Steve Komphela’s wish list at the break would have been to get his side to register their first strike on goal and build from there, having failed in the first half.

Although it took them until halfway through the second half, Stellies eventually doubled their advantage as Oura got himself on the scoresheet.

He was beautifully played through on goal by Bafana man Jayden Adams before he coolly slotted past Ismail Watenga.

It was only a matter of time before joint leading top scorer at the time (alongside Tshegofatso Mabasa) Rayners got in on the act and he did so two minutes later with one of the most composed finishes you’re going to see this season.

The 28-year-old scored his 15th league goal of the season as he latched onto a bouncing ball in the box before dropping bodies with a feint and blasting in the third for Stellies.

Barker resorted to resting his most trusted soldiers as he looked ahead to their huge Nedbank Cup semi-final clash against Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday.