Gavin Hunt still hopeful of top eight spot despite Pirates loss

By Benjamin Leshoro
6th May 2026

Stellenbosch FC coach Gavin Hunt still believes his team will make the top eight this season, despite their latest setback against Orlando Pirates.

Stellies were beaten 2-0 by the Sea Robbers at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town last night, which left them in 10th place on the Betway Premiership table with three games remaining.

Hunt says they will have to win all those matches and collect maximum points to make sure they finish in the coveted top bracket this season.

"Yeah, I think we need nine points, I think we're gonna have to win three games now. I thought we should have won last week and I thought we could get a point tonight and then we could go from there but I think we're gonna have to win three games, you know," Hunt said.

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Hunt’s side travel to his former team Durban City this weekend before returning to welcome Orbit College in their final home match.

They then close out the season in Bloemfontein against Marumo Gallants on May 23.

He says those last two games won’t be easy with their opponents fighting relegation.

"And you know it's two teams at the bottom, well Durban City not so it's gonna be tough because obviously they'll be fighting for their lives there. I mean 41 points could get us in there you know," he added.

Reflecting on their loss against Pirates, Hunt was disappointed with how they conceded the two goals by Evidence Makgopa and Patrick Maswanganyi.

He does, however, believe that they will be able to compete again with the big boys once they’ve gone into the transfer market and had a full pre-season.

"Yeah look, I mean obviously disappointed with the result, I thought we lost a fight not a football match. I thought we didn't handle their directiveness and they played off that and you know you gotta be better,” the coach explained.

“You know we shouldn't be conceding from a standard situation which we did but we've done well with the players, where we were and we'll compete again certainly with this team when we fix things up.

“As I said I think we lost the fight more than the game and we weren't very good at that."