The Carling Knockout Cup draw has favoured the Marumo Gallants in terms of venue, but not so much in terms of opposition.
The Bloemfontein side has been pitted against the title defenders, Stellenbosch FC, in one of the quarter-finals of the championship.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) conducted the draw for the mouth-watering face-offs to feature the remaining eight clubs on Sunday, 20 October.
Details yet to be announced are the dates, venues, and times of the quarter-final fixtures. The remaining clubs vying for the prestigious trophy are likely to be in action on the weekend of 2 and 3 November.
The mighty Gallants advanced to the quarter-finals of the competition after a hard-fought 3 – 2 win against Polokwane City in a fixture played in the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, Limpopo, on Saturday.
Stellenbosch showed their mettle by narrowly beating AmaZulu 2 – 1 in a fixture played on Friday.
Gallants’ win proved to be just the necessary ingredient head coach Dan Malesela needed to boost the confidence of his warriors.
Further progress will only prove beneficial for his warriors to find the right rhythm for them after a poor run in the opening three matches of the Betway Premiership League competition.
The Bahlabane ba Ntwa players will be looking to exploit their home turf advantage to cause an upset in the tournament. Malesela’s charges will count on the added advantage of a strong home crowd’s cheers to further plot their victory.
His warriors will be wearing the underdog tag in this challenging tournament.
The Stellenbosch side won the inaugural Carling Knockout Cup after defeating TS Galaxy 5 – 4 on penalties last year.
The winner was decided via penalties after the two teams were gridlocked at one all after 90 minutes of regulation time, and extra time of 30 minutes.
The stakes are high in this championship, in which the winner is guaranteed R6,85 million and the runner-up R2,85 million.
