Inexperience will cost Stellenbosch any chance of being a contender for the league title this season.
Stellies looked set for a crucial and memorable victory at Dannie Craven against Benni McCarthy's AmaZulu this past weekend but it wasn't to be as they drew 2-2 instead.
A victory would have brought them to within three points of current leaders and reigning champions Mamelodi Sundowns but now they are behind by five points and have played one game more.
Cape Town City did them a favour by holding the in-form Sundowns to a 0-0 draw which was an opportunity for the ouens from the Winelands to close the gap at the top.
Steve Barker's ouens didn't take their chance to get closer to the Brazilians. They were in control of the match and were even leading 2-0 with 70 minutes on the clock.
Things changed shortly thereafter as Benni's ouens scored two goals and stole a point in Stellenbosch.
Young Devon Titus even got a red card in the 93rd minute after making a desperate tackle on Usuthu’s goalkeeper Veli Mothwa on the corner line.
That was the story which now means Stellies have drawn their last two league matches and they have Orlando Pirates visiting today and they will not make things easy for them.
Stellies have been an inspirational story since they joined the PSL ranks. They’ve been steadily building the club from the ground up.
They have a strong youth academy that has already seen a lot of graduates make appearances in the first team.
The only missing links in their squad are proven champions. Players who’ve been there and done the championship thing.
Robyn Johannes, 35, is the only guy who could say he’s been to the winner’s podium from his days with Sundowns. But he was also at the beginning of his career at that time and things didn’t really go well for him after that until he landed at City when they were founded.
Goalkeeper Lee Langeveldt, also 35 years old, has also been around some champions when he was on the books of Santos in his younger days.
But they are both out injured and there is nobody to lean on for that champion spirit within the squad. Somebody needs to keep this relatively young squad in check for big moments like this past weekend.
Sundowns have these types of players in abundance which gives them the edge. The Brazilians do not only win by playing good-looking football, they win ugly at times.
And sometimes that’s what it takes in a league marathon. It really is a long journey that requires the right mix of youthful energy and experience.
With no international or cup breaks coming up, Stellies need to finish the year strong with a winning streak if they want to have any chances of keeping up with Sundowns.
Honestly, nobody had Stellies on their list of contenders at the beginning of the season, so it’s also may be fair to say that they are punching above expectations
We also haven’t really heard Steve Barker or anyone from Stellenbosch talk about a “title challenge” so maybe it’s just me being excited about seeing a team vannie Kaap challenge for honours, especially league honours.
It’s just nice because that means we don’t only have to rely on Cape Town City to fly the flag for the Western Cape as a team with title ambitions.