Richards Bay boss Ronnie Gabriel urges calm after six-game winless start

Richards Bay coach Ronnie Gabriel says there is no reason to panic despite his side remaining without a victory after six matches this season.

The Natal Rich Boyz dropped to 14th in the log with three points after suffering a 5-1 defeat by rookies Milford at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on Sunday. They have drawn three of their six matches and lost the other three, leaving them just one point above bottom side Marumo Gallants.

Gabriel said the result had been shaped by a red card and a penalty, and that the contest would have been different had Richards Bay kept 11 players on the pitch.

“We looked at our other games coming into this one, because if I look at this fixture here in isolation it’s simple: the red card and the penalty decided the match,” Gabriel told the media after the match.

“They put us on the back foot, it’s hard to talk tactics when this happens so early into the game. The red card decided the game, so the penalty decision put us on the backfoot because we were chasing the game from there.

“But looking at our previous games against Kaizer Chiefs, Durban City, there were matches where we took a lead and we held on for a longer period and played good football.

“If we had 11 v 11 the entire game it would have been a different story, I can assure you that.”

The Richards Bay manager acknowledged the disappointment of the defeat but is already looking ahead to Saturday’s match against Sekhukhune United at Princess Magogo Stadium, which kicks off at 3pm.

Gabriel believes his team created enough opportunities to remain competitive after going down to 10 men, although Milford were able to exploit the additional space on the counter-attack.

“It was a disappointing result. We started the game well until the red card and the penalty, however, with the man down we continued to chase the game, and the opposition was catching us on the break,” he said.

“We took the game from the opposition and it was the game we wanted to win. We felt with the man down we could still create scoring opportunities and we had many of them.

“But we will have to accept these results as it is.”

Gabriel said the club would take positives from its earlier fixtures and expected Richards Bay to improve soon.

Milford coach Xanti Pupuma, meanwhile, was pleased with his team’s display and said he had expected them to make an impression during their debut season.

“For me what they do in these matches is what it is expected of them. I’m very impressed and happy for them they have finally have the opportunity to be seen by many [and showcase] what they can do,” Pupuma said.