RICHARDS Bay coach Ronnie Gabriel. Sibusiso Mdlalose Independent Newspapers
The KwaZulu-Natal outfit has now gone four matches without defeat following their 1-1 draw, and their efforts in the Cape Winelands have solidified their 13th place on the log with 17 points and they now trail SuperSport United by three points with twelve rounds remaining.
Interim coach Gabriel was pleased with his side getting a point away from home, but he also felt that they could have done better in certain areas to protect their early lead.
Thato Mohlamme put the visitors ahead in the second minute of the match, benefiting from a Sage Stephens error off a Justice Figuareido set-piece.
The Stellies shot stopper attempt to hold on to the ball from a direct freekick left him in a spot of bother as he was only successful in spilling it, with Mohlamme there to pick up the pieces, tapping in from close range to hand the visitors the lead.
“A hard-fought draw away from home, but we will take this point.” Gabriel said in a post-match interview on SuperSport TV.
“Today I thought we were not at the top of our game; although we got the goal early on, we struggled to sit back for longer periods. Maybe we thought that we could protect the lead.
“Going into half-time, we defended well but I felt that we could have played higher up the pitch and tried to take the game more into the opposition. In possession, we are not the best; we were wasteful even in this game.
“It was a gallant effort away from home against a tough Stellenbosch team that is playing very good football. We must accept this result, take this point and look forward to our next encounter.”
The Natal Rich Boys were pecked back after they took the lead, but they did just enough to protect it into the half-time break.
Stellies were dominant for large parts of the contest after conceding but they were let down by their first half showing, failing to create decent opportunities.
Their second half showing was much better, even though through their attacking, the visitors also had a few chances of their own through the counter.
Their persistence in the second half finally broke the visitors resistance as a foul by Keegan Allan inside the 18-yard box handed Stellies a lifeline in the 74th minute, with Fawaaz Basadien calmly slotting home as both sides share the spoils
“This type of football tactics is psychological; you have a group of players that also maybe think that they can hold on to a lead for longer periods and they did well to hold onto the lead because we conceded from a penalty ultimately.” Gabriel continued
“We sensed it; Stellies was throwing numbers and playing with full backs high up the pitch, pinning our back four, so it was a difficult encounter and we will have to accept this type of outcome because they were the home team.
“But we fought and it was a good defensive display from our group because, if you look at it, there were not a lot of clear-cut chances and if you look at it, we could have scored even towards the end but we are happy with the one point.”