Stellenbosch arrested a run of five DStv Premiership games without a win as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over TS Galaxy at the Danie Craven Stadium on Wednesday night.
First-half goals from Thabo Moloisane and Devin Titus put Steve Barker’s side in control before substitute Antonio Van Wyk wrapped up the three points midway through the second half to take them up to 10th in the standings.
The Rockets slipped to their third defeat in five matches as they dropped down one place to 12th, a point behind the Cape Winelands outfit.
Both teams were winless in their last three league encounters, with Stellies going down 3-1 to Mamelodi Sundowns last Wednesday, while Galaxy played out to a 1-1 draw with Richards Bay on Sunday.
The hosts showed plenty of attacking intent and Andre de Jong dragged a shot wide of the left post from inside the box after just four minutes before Anicet Oura forced Vasilije Kolak into a good save from Deano van Rooyen’s cross in the ninth minute.
Kolak then tipped a long-range strike from Oura over the crossbar in the 12th minute and Moloisane opened the scoring from the resulting corner as he headed home from close range.
The Maroons pushed for more goals and Kolak was required to make saves from Oura and Kgaogelo Sekgota just before the half-hour mark, but he was beaten again soon afterwards when Jayden Adams played in Titus on the right and the winger lashed his shot into the top left corner of the net.
A rare attack for Sead Ramovic’s side saw Samir Nurkovic fail to hit the target from inside the area on 37 minutes after being picked out by Higor Vidal, while the final chance of the half fell to Ismael Toure, who steered his header wide of the right post from a 44th-minute corner.
The visitors had the first sight at goal in the second half, although Lindokuhle Mbatha didn’t trouble Stage Stephens with a long-range strike that sailed over the target in the 54th minute.
However, Van Wyk put the result beyond doubt 11 minutes later when he beat Kolak from a tight angle on the left to register Stellies’ third goal of the night.
Titus threatened to make it four on 79 minutes after Oura found him inside the box on the right, but Kolak was alert to the danger on this occasion and managed to prevent the ball from sneaking in at the near post, while the Bosnian goalkeeper also denied Van Wyk in stoppage time to keep the score down to 3-0.