Richards Bay coach full of praise for chargers

Richards Bay coach Ronnie Gabriel lauded the efforts of his side after they won a first away victory of the season, upsetting Stellenbosch at the Danie Craven Stadium on Saturday night to move up three places in the Betway Premiership standings.

Richards Bay, now in 10th spot with eight points, won 1-0 with a first half goal from new signing Siyabonga Nzama

“It was not going to be an easy assignment. We know Stellenbosch at their home ground are not easy pickings, and we came up against a very, very good outfit, a very aggressive unit and they gave us a lot to think about during the course of the game,” said Gabriel in his assessment of the game.

“We felt a point would be okay away from home and we wanted to play the game more territorially.

“Looking at the pitch conditions, it was not the best out there for us to play possession football, so it was a game of more per centage football and we had to play the percentages right and see what we could get on the other end and fortunately, we managed to steal the goal and we held on to that goal for the entire duration of the game,” Gabriel added.

Nzama’s strike was his first in the top flight and came as he got ahead of Sanele Barns to squeeze the ball home past Sage Stephens.

“But all in all, I think it was more about the psychological aspect from the group where they had to be strong mentally, they had to know that they had to come here and grind out a result and that it was not going to be easy against a Stellenbosch team that's also looking for points and languishing in the log as well,” the coach said.

“So we knew it was going to be a big fight and the boys stood out. They showed the character, they showed the determination, they showed what they are capable of because few teams will come here and get a result here in Stellenbosch.

“It's not an easy ground to play on. You've got to be ready for that type of football, full of duels, full of physical confrontations, and we were up for the challenges and credit must go to my group. They really fought all the glory must go to them. They worked hard,” Gabriel concluded.