Staff Reporter.
Baroka FC edged past Stellenbosch FC 1-0 in the Nedbank Cup Last 32 match at the Danie Craven Stadium on Friday evening.
The visitors handed a debut to new signing Mbombi, while Sibongiseni Mthethwa and Juan Ortiz were handed their debuts for Stellies after joining last month.
These two sides clashed just before the league to a break, as Steve Barker’s charges secured a 1-0 win at the same stadium.
Stellies were the better side in the opening exchanges with Junior Mendieta being a constant threat to Baroka’s defence.
The Argentine attacking midfielder was denied twice by goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze, who was keen to impress after starting ahead of Oscarine Masuluke.
However, Bakgaga Ba Mphahlele finished the first-half the stronger of the two teams as keeper Sage Stephens made a save to deny Tshepo Mokhabi and the score was 0-0 at half-time.
The two teams attacked each other after the restart as they looked to break the deadlock, but they couldn’t create clear cut chances as their final ball was poor.
Kgoloko Thobejane, the Baroka coach, decided to make a change as he introduced the hard-running Thamsanqa Masiya, who made an immediate impact.
Masiya pounced and scored with a lovely finish to hand Baroka a 1-0 lead with 18 minutes left on the clock after Athenkosi Mcaba had given away possession in his own-half.
The goal proved to be the winning goal for Baroka, who contained Stellenbosch in the latter stages of the encounter and they ran out 1-0 winners on the night.
In the earlier fixture on Friday, KwaZulu-Natal ABC Motsepe League side Summerfield Dynamos defeated GladAfrica Championship outfit Uthongathi 1-0 in a provincial derby.
Clinton Larsen’s Dynamos took the lead in the first half through Mcedi Vandala, a player who has some experience in this competition with EC Bees in 2018.
Former Bafana Bafana midfielder Papi Zothwane is the coach of Uthongathi and came up against former boss Larsen. The win for Dynamos ensures there will be a minimum of three third-tier teams in the last-16.
Nedbank Cup Weekend Fixtures
Saturday February 12: NC Professionals v Mathaithai (3pm), Platinum City Rovers v Sekhukhune United (3pm), Royal AM v Cape Town City (3pm), Kaizer Chiefs v TS Galaxy (6pm)
Sunday February 13: Black Eagles v Sivutsa (3pm), Marumo Gallants v Santos (3pm), Sinenkani v Free State Stars (3pm).