It went down right to the wire and Stellenbosch FC emerged as Carling Knockout victors following a 5-4 penalty shootout win over TS Galaxy on Saturday.
The two sides could not separate each other after extra time at Moses Mabhida Stadium and it needed the lottery kicks to decide the contest.
Lehlohonolo Mojela continued with his good form, putting TS Galaxy two minutes before halftime before Ismael Toure equalised for Stellenbosch on 74 minutes.
After launching a comeback, the Cape Winelands side would be proud of themselves after finishing the match with 10 men following an extra-time red card to Fawaaz Basadien.
To spice it up, Iqraam Rayners was named Man of the Match for the fourth straight Carling Knockout game, overall pocketing R400,000 although he has been sharing it with his teammates.
It was Stellebosch's first-ever major trophy and a milestone achievement for coach Steve Barker who dedicated the victory to his late uncle Clive and Oswin Andries who passed away in February.
Both sides made goalkeeping changes with Sage Stephens returning for Stellenbosch while Fiacre Ntwari was back for TS Galaxy, rewarded for his penalty heroics in the earlier stages of the tournament.
With 19 minutes into the match, Ntwari justified his selection by blocking, with his legs, an Iqraam Rayners shot.
It was a time when TS Galaxy were struggling to make headway into the Stelenbosch box and Mojela was disappointingly quiet, struggling to replicate the form that made him tick in recent games.
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Stellenbosch almost went ahead when TS Galaxy defender Pogiso Sanoka nearly beat his own goalkeeper Ntwari while trying to clear an Ismael Toure shot.
But Mojela finally made up for his lethargy by firing into the top corner off a corner kick to hand the Rockets a halftime lead.
In the first minute of the second half substitute Samir Nurkovic's shot just over the bar
Mojela forced a save from Stephens from a tight angle before action swung to the other end where Rayners drew an excellent save from Ntwari.
From the resultant corner kick, Toure pounced on a Devin Titus cleared effort to send a left-footed curler past Ntwari.
An attempt by Sphiwe Mahlangu to reclaim the lead for the Galaxy was frustrated by Stephens who made a timely intervention, leaving a strong possibility of the contest spilling into extra time.
A drab extra time gave an impression that both sides wanted the match to reach penalty shootouts with Basadien's red card being the main highlight of this period.
A penalty shootout settled matters with Mojela spoiling his day by missing the final kick that handed Stellenbosch victory.
