Richards Bay over the moon at being back on home ground

As Richards Bay are set to finally play their home matches on their original turf – the Umhlathuze Sports Complex – the club’s coach Ronnie Gabriel is over the moon, and says playing at home would give them “10 to 12 points” they wouldn’t have bagged playing in Durban.

The Natal Rich Boys have not played at their home venue since their promotion to the Premiership three seasons ago because the league said the Richards Bay Stadium was unfit to host PSL matches. Consequently, Bay have been using Umlazi’s King Zwelithini Stadium as their home ground for the past four years.

The club’s owner, Jomo Biyela, is on record as saying after renovations, the Umhlathuze Sports Complex is now ready to host PSL games.

Bay punched above their weight last term, finishing eighth to qualify for the MTN8 for the first time in their history.

“We’re very happy to come back to play at home,” Gabriel said during the team’s event to unveil new signings this week. “Travelling over the past three seasons has really taken its toll on us. We feel that playing at our original home venue could add another 10 to 12 points to our point tally come the end of the season.

“At the same time, playing in Richards Bay gives us a chance to reward our supporters by making them happy and proud.”

Gabriel is looking forward to trying out his methods against newly promoted Motsepe Foundation Championship side Midlands Wanderers in the KZN Premier’s Cup on July 26-27 at the Umhlathuze Sports Complex. Bay and Midlands will meet in a seeded semifinal. AmaZulu, Golden Arrows, Durban City and Milford are the other teams involved.

“I think it will be a good test for us,” the Bay coach said. “Remember, for us this tournament is more about setting our system of formations. We want to use this tournament to test our game approach, so any type of fixture we play during preseason gives us a chance to do that irrespective of the opponent.”

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