‘The match mustn’t be decided by controversial moment’

Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker isn't calling this year's MTN8 final a “revenge match.” A year after their 3-1 defeat to Orlando Pirates in the same final, Barker and his team are ready for a new challenge.

He says that with the changes in the Pirates' squad and coaching staff, this isn't the same team they faced before.

Stellenbosch FC secured their spot in the final with a dominant 3-1 aggregate win over Sekhukhune United in the semi-finals. This marks their second consecutive appearance in the MTN8 final, a testament to their consistency and drive.

They'll be facing a tough opponent in the Buccaneers, who are making their fourth consecutive final appearance after knocking out Mamelodi Sundowns on penalties. The Sea Robbers are also looking for their fourth consecutive MTN8 title.

While the memory of last season's defeat is fresh, Barker is focused on the future. He's pleased that his team has once again put themselves in a position to win a major trophy.

This final is an opportunity for Stellenbosch to write a new chapter and, potentially, lift the MTN8 trophy for the first time.

‘IT SHOULD BE A FAIR CONTEST’

“I think as as coaches and as football players, you want to be playing in as many finals as you can and you want to be winning as many trophies as you can,” said Barker.

“I think for a player to have a legacy and leave a legacy and one day to be able to show the grandchildren and children the medals and trophies, I think that's the most important part why in football we put the effort each and every day and train hard and have dreams and have ambitions.

“We’ve got a massive ambition to lift trophies and [with] the MTN8 [we’re] now one game away from achieving that. So, it's not about redemption [after losing MTN8 final to Pirates last season]. It's not about anything, Pirates have changed players and they have got a new coach.

“It's a new game, all I hope is that the game doesn't end up not being decided by a controversial moment either way for either team and it's just a fair contest.

“But yeah, they're obviously a good team. They showed midweek how good they are when they dominated us for the first 20 to 25 minutes. A lot of lessons for us to learn from that but we'll only concentrate on that after the following week.

“We've got some league matches in between, as close as Tuesday already. So, we need to get back to Cape Town, regenerate and get ourselves up and running in the league and then obviously Sundowns the following week and then we'll start preparing for the final.”