Bay Coach Relieved After Crucial Victory Over Golden Arrows
Richards Bay co-coach Ronnie Gabriel expressed immense relief after securing a crucial victory over Golden Arrows in the Betway Premiership match at Mpumalanga Stadium on Saturday.
The win lifted them off the bottom of the table, but Gabriel emphasized that the job was far from over.
A long ball from Bay goalkeeper Salim Magoola caught Arrows off guard. Yanela Mbuthuma flicked on the ball, leaving Arrows goalkeeper Edward Moava stranded. Lindokuhle Zikhali capitalized on the confusion, swiveling his body to lob the ball into the empty net for his first PSL goal. The jubilant celebrations on the bench highlighted the significance of this victory for the team.
The Natal Rich Boys moved to eighth place in the table with eight points from 11 games, two points above bottom-placed Magesi, who have played two fewer matches.
“These three points means a lot to us, but we are not naive to think that we are out of the woods,” said co-coach Gabriel after the game.
“We know a lot of boxes need to to be ticked. We understand we got to be more consistence team; we got to pick up more results on a weekly basis.
“We understand that it is a process as well and also understand we will have more hiccups along the way and we must be able to accept that.
“But more importantly, we spoke about good football. We spoke about enjoying the game, dominating the game, we knew that the results will take care of itself.
“So, it was not a matter of putting pressure on us to say ‘We must get the results no matter how’. We also want to play the brand of football that is also exciting, attacking, enterprising as well.
“So, I think today we managed to accomplish that.”
However, Bay missed several opportunities to extend their lead. Mbuthuma squandered a good chance in the 32nd minute, and Thulani Gumede saw his effort cleared off the line by Brandon Theron. Gumede also missed a one-on-one opportunity, side-footing wide when he should have scored.
“It’s disappointing,” Gabriel admitted. “But then again, these are youngsters, they are going to make those elementary errors and we must able to accept it, coach them and continue to show them, believe in them. Maybe in the next game, Gumede will put the ball into the empty net.
“But we should have scored two or three goals in this game if I’m not mistaken. We created enough goal scoring chances through our final third entries, box entries – it was a good display of football out there.”
