Niche Cache
Nathan Garrow & Dublin Boon – Stellenbosch (South African Premiership)
An interesting thing happened at the end of the last PSL season when Stellenbosch concluded their campaign with a 0-0 draw away against Marumo Gallants. Very good result for Gallants, who with that point were able to avoid relegation (had they lost by three goals they’d have gone down)... but that’s not the interesting bit. The interesting bit is that Dublin Boon was on the bench for Stellies. Former Nomads United, Roda JC, and Wellington Phoenix goalkeeping prospect – wrapping up his first year in South Africa with a spot in the matchday squad.
Boon spent most of that season in the reserves and it’s now looking like that bench spot was a tip of the hat for the following season because since then Lee Langeveldt has retired and Oscarine Masuluke has been released which only leaves club captain Sage Stephens, at 35 years of age, to wear the gloves. Suddenly Dublin Boon is staring at a promotion, although he’s got some compatriot competition coming his way for that seat on the bench...
Stellenbosch FC CEO, Rob Benadie: “We are delighted to welcome Nathan to Stellenbosch FC. He is a talented young goalkeeper with outstanding potential, and his performances over the past year have demonstrated that he has the quality to succeed at a high level. He has an incredibly bright future ahead of him, and we believe that he will benefit from the opportunities for growth that exist at the Club, while simultaneously helping to improve our goalkeeping department.”
There’s a twist here in that it had been heavily rumoured about a month ago that Dublin Boon was being scouted by Orlando Pirates – the same club that signed Andre de Jong from Stellies back in January – with an impending swap deal on the cards that would send Dublin Boon and winger Faiz Abrahams to Pirates with attacking midfielder Kabelo Dlamini joining Stellenbosch in return. One less attacking midfielder in that Orlando squad would also be a boost for ADJ. Pirates don’t actually need any more goalkeepers... but then they didn’t need any more forwards when they signed De Jong either, that just seems to be how they operate. Also gotta mention that Brendon Fourie who was the head of recruitment for Stellenbosch when both De Jong and Boon were signed... is now one of the top scouts at Orlando Pirates. Pretty direct link there. In fact, ADJ was his first signing after getting that job at Stellenbosch.
But that swap deal fell through when Dlamini decided that he didn’t want to play for Stellies. They might revisit it later in the window though now it also sounds like Abraham might go to Durban City instead. It’s a weird one... not that Stellenbosch will be too sad since all indications are that they rate Dublin Boon very highly and with his dual-South African eligibility they even see him as a possible Bafana Bafana player down the line. What’s more, Nathan Garrow was born in Cape Town so he’s eligible for South Africa too. We may have to be careful here. Or, given the calibre of young goalkeepers in the NZ system (neither Boon nor Garrow ever made the cut for any age grade World Cup squads), perhaps we don’t need to be greedy. We can let that idea simmer since we’re still a long way from that being a relevant decision for either of them.
As it stands, Dublin Boon and Nathan Garrow will be competing for the bench goalkeeper spot at Stellenbosch. Both are 21 years old. Garrow has joined from Auckland City where he made a name for himself with bundles of saves at the Club World Cup last year, playing in the 6-0 loss to Benfica and the 1-1 draw with Boca Juniors. He then continued that form into the NZ National League looking far more confident and assured as a young keeper (as you would after that experience) and now here we are. Fascinating situation. Meanwhile, Andre de Jong should be playing CAF Champions League for defending PSL champions Orlando Pirates and ought to be a bit more prominent in his first full year at the club after a few outgoing transfers between seasons.
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