Richards Bay co-coach Ronnie Gabriel said his team had been unlucky in recent matches after they showed fighting spirit by coming from behind to beat Marumo Gallants 2-1 in a Betway Premiership match at King Zwelithini Stadium on Tuesday.

Most importantly, they played over 30 minutes with a man down after Yanela Mbuthuma was sent off in the 59th minute.

After Sekela Sithole scored for Gallants in the 51st minute, Bay scored two late goals. Justice Figareido equalized in the 86th minute, and two minutes later, the club’s DStv Diski Challenge striker Ntlomelo Bomelo finished a brilliant cross by Somila Ntsundwana to win the game.

It was Bay’s third league win of the season, moving them to 13 points after 16 matches, two points behind 13th-place Dan Malesela’s side.

“It was a good performance by the group; the players deserve all the credit because we could have easily lost hope when it was 1-0 and after the red card,” Gabriel said after the game.

“But they regrouped, rolled up their sleeves, and we continued to push them. Today, it was our day.

“In many other games, we had similar situations where things went against us, but today it went our way. We are happy about the result; we feel good about it. We felt we needed this kind of break because of the football we have been playing over the past few weeks.

“We felt we deserved more from those games. Hopefully, these points will keep us on a high going into the next game against Polokwane City over the weekend, and we can play with confidence, dominate the game, and get another positive result.”

The win ends Bay’s five-game winless streak, and they next host Polokwane City at King Zwelithini Stadium on Friday at 8:00 PM.

“In all the other games where we were playing and dropping points, the effort was there,” Gabriel continued.

“The attitude was right, the hard work was there; we were just failing to convert those games. The team talk was like this: ‘Don’t change much for this game. Put in the same type of performance that we have been putting in against Mamelodi Sundowns, against Orlando Pirates, and even against Magesi.’

“Put in the same amount of effort, and we will get the results. We were happy with the performances; we were just not happy with the results, and that was the issue.

“The boys complied. It was a magnificent effort today; it was a top-notch effort.”

While Bay might be celebrating the crucial win, Mbuthuma will miss the next three games as this was his second red card this season. Mbuthuma has been Bay’s best player so far.