Richards Bay chasing a week of bliss

Richards Bay are hoping to crown an exciting last seven days for the club when they host Magesi in the Betway Premiership on Wednesday in what will be only a second-ever top-flight game at their home ground, the Umhlathuze Sports Complex.

Last Wednesday, the club made their long-awaited return, after a three-year exile while the municipality dithered over renovations, when they drew 1-1 with TS Galaxy, missing out on a chance for victory when they squandered a last-gasp penalty.

They had a full house despite the rainy weather as excited locals flocked to see the club again after playing all their home games since promotion in Durban.

They followed it up with success on Saturday away against Stellenbosch, which pushed them up to 10th in the league standings.

“It has been exciting times, really a good week for us with four out of a possible six points, a win away from home in the Cape, and we want to top it off with a win back home against Magesi,” said coach Ronnie Gabriel.

“Hopefully, it can be another enterprising and exciting display of football where we can make the fans happy and give them the three points that they so much desire at home.”

Victory would likely see Richards Bay jump into the top eight and keep them on course to achieve their aim of a second successive top-eight finish this season.

Their defensive display against Stellenbosch, where they allowed little space in behind them, contributed to their surprise 1-0 win and has given Gabriel food for thought for when they meet champions Mamelodi Sundowns away in Atteridgeville on Saturday.

“We didn't want to afford them the opportunity to get behind us at will and so we nullified those spaces and then played on the break attack and out of the second phase, and it worked for us.

“It worked for us because we managed to stifle Stellenbosch’s progress in the final third, and each time they were trying to go behind our backs, the ball eventually ended up going to our goalkeeper who cut it off easily.

“But before we go to Sundowns, we need to cross the hurdle against Magesi,” Gabriel added.