Stellenbosch FC continued with their fine form in the Premier League Next Generation Cup making it two victories in a row.
The Winelands based outfit defeated Aston Villa 1-0 in their second group match to take their points tally to six. Stellies should have been sitting on eight points, but they lost two penalty shoot-outs which comes with a point if you win them.
Quwan Plaatjies scored a beautiful goal in the ninth minute of the match, and it proved to be enough to win them the game.
Playing on their home ground, it was Aston Villa who started on the front foot and forced Stellies keeper Dejean Ah Shene into making two good saves from set-piece situations during the opening stages of the encounter.
Stellies rode the early storm, with the likes of Tylon Smith and Simthadile Sishi putting in a strong shift in defense, and looked threatening on the break when counter-attacking opportunities presented themselves.
As the match continued, Stellies grew and were able to find their feet in the match. Their first chance fell for Langelihle Phili who forced Villa’s keeper to make a save.
Moments after found the back of the net with a wonderful curling effort from outside of the box after Ethan Felix won possession and lay the ball into Plaatjies way.
In the second half, Stellies were able to manage the game and goalkeeper Ah Shene was outstanding making some great saves ensuring he gets his second clean sheet of the tournament.
After regular time, a compulsory penalty shootout followed, but Stellies again, were not clinical as they missed two penalties to lose the shoot-outs 5-4.