Stellies dynamo Titus draws inspiration from Bafana’s Broos

Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker was delighted that Bafana Bafana bigwigs Hugo Broos and Helman Mkhalele were present in the grandstand when his team made light work of Polokwane City at the Danie Craven Stadium on Thursday evening.

There was never any doubt about who the eventual winners would be from the time Stellenbosch ran up a 2-0 lead in the first half of this Nedbank Cup last-16 round clash.

However, Stellenbosch failed to add to that score despite their domination, but it was enough to secure a quarter-final berth.

"It was nice when the national coaches also understand (how we play) and their presence gave the players a bit of a boost," said Barker.

One player who seemed to thrive on Broos' presence was midfielder Devin Titus, who has previously made an impression on the national coach who said "he’s very quick, and he can dribble defenders".

Titus scored the second goal in great style with a first-time shot from the edge of the opposition's penalty area.

"I thought Devin took his goal really well and a little bit unlucky not to get a second goal," said Barker who reached a milestone of 300 matches as a coach in the Premiership.

"There were good all-round performances, and I think the starting XI was good and solid.

"We did create a lot of (scoring) chances and were really good in the first half when probably we should have scored more than we did.

"It's nice to have some players back from suspensions and injuries. It does show when there's just that maturity in the full-back positions and it helped us a lot.

“I’m happy to be in a draw for the last eight teams. We are looking forward to seeing who we will be facing, but overall, I think it was a good solid performance from the boys.”

Stellenbosch became the second club to reach the quarter-finals after SuperSport United defeated Cape Town Spurs 2-1 after extra time on Wednesday night.

Both Stellenbosch and Polokwane will return to Premiership action on Tuesday. Stellenbosch is away to giant killers TS Galaxy, and Polokwane hosts Magesi FC in a Limpopo.