Revenge? What revenge? Stephens opens up about meeting Pirates again in MTN8 final

Stellenbosch goalkeeper Sage Stephens insists his team will not be focusing on last edition's controversial loss when they play Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 final.

In the 2024/25 edition, Stellies were undone by an incorrectly taken fast-time free-kick that caught their players by surprise. Despite the protests by the technical team and coach Steve Barker, the officials were not moved as Bucs claimed a 2-1 win to make it three triumphs in a row.

Ahead of the Saturday meeting in Mpumalanga, the Bafana Bafana international insists the game will have nothing to do with the last final. The custodian is just happy that they have done their part to get into the last hurdle once again.

It has nothing to do with last season's final

“We don't look at this game as a chance for revenge. What is done is done, it's all in the past. On that occasion [referring to last season's final at Moses Mabhida Stadium] we showed up the best that we could. We are viewing this final as one single game,” Stephens said.

“From the start of this competition, we have always taken it one game at a time. We've put our foot in the door now but this game has nothing to do with the final we played last season.

“We're looking forward to the occasion. It's special to be playing in another cup final. We are just very excited…this week has been bubly, full of energy and we're looking forward to putting on a good show this weekend,” he concluded.