Upstart Premier Soccer League (PSL) leaders Silver Stars were in seventh heaven at a rain-swept Bafokeng Royal Sports Palace on Sunday afternoon after bundling PSL Cup kings Kaizer Chiefs out of the lucrative Telkom Knockout competition with a resolute 2-1 victory.
And for a stunned, visibly shell-shocked Amakhosi, it was a case of too little, too late as they only woke up to the possibility of impending defeat in this quarterfinal encounter after an inspired Simba Marumo had made the score 2-0 in the 61st minute with the second of his accomplished brace of goals.
Stars, who had played a tight, disciplined and composed brand of soccer for the first three-quarters of the match, finally succumbed to the pressure of performing in a competition with a R4,25-million winners’ prize, allowing Shaun Bartlett a ”free header” in the 82nd minute to make the score 2-1 and then held out for the tantalising final minutes on a wing and a prayer.
But in the overall picture it was a singularly deserved triumph for the Cinderella club of the PSL, who are only step-children residents at the Rustenburg Stadium and are battling to find a sponsor.
A dour, probing opening 40 minutes of play flared into action when Chiefs’ Diteko Mototo recklessly brought Marumo down in the penalty area and the diminutive striker made no mistake with a pin-point shot into the corner of the net when taking the spot-kick himself.
Marumo’s second goal was a picture of masterly intuition as he bisected a static Chiefs defence and volleyed the ball into the corner of the net past a bemused Rowen Fernandez in goal.
Chiefs demonstrated their character by staging a grim fightback in the closing stages, with Mototo striking the post from point-blank range in the 77th minute when a goal seemed a certainty, and Wayne Sandilands saving sensationally from a deflected angled shot from substitute Rotson Kilambe four minutes later.
The rain-soaked Chiefs’ supporters in the 5 000 crowd were calling for Bartlett’s blood before the off-form former Bafana Bafana scoring maestro silenced his critics with a trademark headed goal to set up a final 10 minutes of frenzied football.
But Willem Jackson and his sturdy Stars’ co-defenders soaked up the intense pressure while sweat and rain drops dripped from their brows in equally increasing measure.
And with the demise of Chiefs following that of Orlando Pirates at the hands of Santos on Saturday night, the PSL’s two top crowd pullers are now out of the competition with the most prize money. — Sapa