Remember the name: Plaatjies makes PSL history with debut hat-trick

[p]The 20-year-old was handed a surprise start by coach [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hunt-gavin/j5M8lDXj/"]Gavin Hunt[/a], with the vastly experienced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/grobler-bradley/KSW5mdPK/"]Bradley Grobler[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/du-preez-ashley/pYO694Ob/"]Ashley du Preez[/a] on the bench, and did not disappoint with three well-taken goals.[/p][p]His first was a lovely run and composed finish from the edge of the box, before two near-identical headers from pinpoint crosses by fellow academy product Raoul Daniels sealed his history-making milestone.[/p][p]Daniels is himself only 19 and was playing in just his third game as a professional.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/plaatjies-quwan/bFzoyny9/"]Plaatjies[/a] is also only the third player in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/stellenbosch-fc/fJsWcA5b/"]Stellenbosch[/a]’s history to score a hat-trick after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/muishond-stanley/YRpqedhF/"]Stanley Muishond[/a], who scored a treble against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mthatha-bucks/lpIeSFj9/"]Mthatha Bucks[/a] in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rayners-iqraam/8M2gNoUh/"]Iqraam Rayners[/a], who scored a remarkable five against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/polokwane-city/ADz8rR88/"]Polokwane City[/a] in the Betway Premiership in 2024.[/p][p]Plaatjies has not come out of nowhere. He was part of the Stellenbosch side that won the 2023/24 DStv Diski Challenge and travelled to England for the 2024 Premier League Next Generation Cup.[/p][embed guid="ef0cd17c-a1c4-40e1-8de8-f6c2054ace22" url="https://x.com/StellenboschFC/status/2088358820192076168?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]He scored a superb winner against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Aston Villa[/a] as Stellies went on to win the tournament, beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tottenham/UDg08Ohm/"]Tottenham Hotspur[/a] 2-0 in the final.[/p][p]His mother passed away when he was young and he dedicated his treble against Gallants to her.[/p][p]Plaatjies became the 134th player to net a treble, or more, in the PSL era. In all, there have been 191 hat-tricks scored since the start of the 1996/97 season, with at least one in every campaign bar 2017/18, when there were none.[/p][p]In the 1998/99 season, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mamelodi-sundowns/lxZ6Bzh6/"]Sundowns[/a] pipped [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kaizer-chiefs/fFZ2CGx0/"]Kaizer Chiefs[/a] to the title, a record 15 hat-tricks were scored.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ndlanya-pollen/AB0gh7uP/"]Pollen Ndlanya[/a] leads the individual list with six hat-tricks. Four of them were scored for Chiefs and one each during his brief tenures at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/amazulu/4jYGJsW7/"]AmaZulu[/a] and Pirates.[/p][p]The fastest hat-trick in South African football remains the five minutes it took [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chamanga-james/Gjy5lYn4/"]James Chamanga[/a] to score three times between the 20th and 25th minutes for Swallows against Platinum Stars in December 2007. He went on to add two more late in the game for a five-goal haul.[/p]