Sekhukhune ready for on-form and persistent Bay

Sekhukhune United midfielder Given Mashikinya believes Richards Bay have benefitted from the unknown factor this season.

Babina Noko will host the Natal Rich Boyz tomorrow at the Peter Mokaba Stadium (5.30pm) for a DStv Premiership encounter. Richards Bay, who are in their first season in the top flight, have blossomed so far, similar to how Sekhukhune did in their debut campaign. 

The unknown factor and pragmatic approach have seen the KwaZulu-Natal team climb to third place on the log, much to the surprise of many. After 19 matches, they have 31 points and their defence has been their strong point, conceding only 11 goals so far. 

Mashikinya is of the view that Richards Bay caught the lucky charm of teams doing well after promotion. 

“We are facing Richards Bay that’s on a high, I feel like they have done well this season. Every season you have a team that’s on form that comes from the lower division, this season it’s them, you go to England there’s Fulham," Mashikinya told Sekhukhune’s media department.

“So, we are expecting a high intensity game, it’s a team that scores most of their goals in the last minute because they are persistent, they don’t give up and hardly get tired," he said ahead of the crucial encounter. 

At the start of the year Sekhukhune won four games on the trot in the Premiership, sparking a revival under coach Brandon Truter. However, now they have lost back-to-back matches. This could be a case déjà vu for Truter, who is known to go on good runs followed up by a bad run of form. 

“With us not getting results, I feel like it’s one of those times where you get points and then go through a rough patch, we are fluctuating now, we get points and don’t get points.

“The good thing about our team is that we keep clean sheets most of the time and when we lose a game it’s always from our own mistakes. We had to rectify that this week, we are ready for the game," Mashikinya.