Richards Bay coach bemoans players dropping back defensively

Richards Bay players went into defensive mode after scoring early against Stellenbosch in the Betway Premiership on Friday and let slip the potential for a rare away win, said coach Ronnie Gabriel after the 1-1 draw at the Danie Craven Stadium.

Thato Mohlamme was quickest to follow up on a free-kick partially stopped by Sage Stephens and had the relegation-haunted Richards Bay ahead in the second minute.

But they conceded a penalty in the final quarter of the game, converted by Fawaaz Basadien, which ensured a share of the points.

“I think we would have been happy going home with a point but after taking the early lead and holding on to the lead for a long period of the game, we felt we could have stolen the three points and gone home with three points that it not been for a penalty,” said Gabriel afterwards.

He felt, however, the players adopted the wrong approach after taking the lead.

“Our plan was to play a middle third block and a higher block but psychologically, this thing goes back to the players, and they say, ‘we've got a 1-0 lead. let's hold on to it’. Automatically, we start dropping the lines and it goes for longer and longer periods,” the coach explained.

“And they're believing that they can hold onto this lead for the whole game, but it was not to be. But having said that, I think they did well defensively. We must accept it.”

Richards Bay came close to snatching victory late in the game, catching Stellenbosch on the counter as the home team pressed forward.

“On another day, those chances go in. Thato Mohlamme being one-on-one with the goalkeeper and the other chance with (Nkosikhona) Ndaba and (Mxolisi) Machupu on a two-v-one situation. We could have stolen it on the break.

“But having said that we are content with this one point. It was not an easy game. We played against a very good Stellenbosch team. They dominated the exchanges. They were on top of their game. We had to hold on for longer periods and even after they scored the equaliser, they were continuously coming at us.

"But a lot of learning took place, I think, and away from home we showed that we could grind out a result. This will help the team to grow going forward. It will take us up to a good position in the league,” Gabriel added.