Richards Bay assistant coach Ronnie Gabriel insists they will not be fooled by the eight-point gap between them and Cape Town Spurs and think they have avoided automatic relegation.
Gabriel – who guided the Natal Rich Boys to a 2-1 victory over AmaZulu to move eight points clear between them and Spurs in the absence of coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi, who is currently doing his CAF B licence in Germiston – predicts the fight will go down the wire.
Bay bounced back to winning ways against AmaZulu at King Zwelithini Stadium on Tuesday, following strikes by Justice Figuareido and Sanele Barns, while Augustine Mulenga scored the only goal for Usuthu.
"After losing to Cape Town Spurs in our last game, we spoke about increasing the gap to eight points and the main objective of the game being a home fixture, we wanted three points on offer," Gabriel told the media after the match.
"But we are grounded and we are not naive to believe that we have saved the team. There is still a long way to go and this fight will go down to the last minute of the season.
"We understand that the dynamics that come into play to save the team and we are taking one game at a time. It was just a hiccup against Spurs [the 1-0 defeat] and it was a disappointment for us.
"If you look at the remaining games of the season, they will make the boys believe they can make it. Trust in themselves and trust in their abilities and make them confident that they can go head-to-head with any opponents in the league."
Gabriel also explained how they managed to get the confidence back after losing to Spurs. "We went back and looked at our game against Mamelodi Sundowns, doing backward analysis. Against Sundowns, we lost the match in the 95th minute.
"We played an excellent game in terms of team structure, organisation in terms of choosing the right moment in our offensive play. We were spot-on.
"But because of lack of concentration in that game we ended up conceding and lost that match. Then we went to play against Swallows, we went there confident that we could do it and we got the results. There is a belief in the squad and we have the capabilities of making the team safe."
Bay not taking bottom Spurs for granted
Relegation fight will go down the wire – Gabriel
Image: Darren Stewart
Richards Bay assistant coach Ronnie Gabriel insists they will not be fooled by the eight-point gap between them and Cape Town Spurs and think they have avoided automatic relegation.
Gabriel – who guided the Natal Rich Boys to a 2-1 victory over AmaZulu to move eight points clear between them and Spurs in the absence of coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi, who is currently doing his CAF B licence in Germiston – predicts the fight will go down the wire.
Bay bounced back to winning ways against AmaZulu at King Zwelithini Stadium on Tuesday, following strikes by Justice Figuareido and Sanele Barns, while Augustine Mulenga scored the only goal for Usuthu.
"After losing to Cape Town Spurs in our last game, we spoke about increasing the gap to eight points and the main objective of the game being a home fixture, we wanted three points on offer," Gabriel told the media after the match.
"But we are grounded and we are not naive to believe that we have saved the team. There is still a long way to go and this fight will go down to the last minute of the season.
"We understand that the dynamics that come into play to save the team and we are taking one game at a time. It was just a hiccup against Spurs [the 1-0 defeat] and it was a disappointment for us.
"If you look at the remaining games of the season, they will make the boys believe they can make it. Trust in themselves and trust in their abilities and make them confident that they can go head-to-head with any opponents in the league."
Gabriel also explained how they managed to get the confidence back after losing to Spurs. "We went back and looked at our game against Mamelodi Sundowns, doing backward analysis. Against Sundowns, we lost the match in the 95th minute.
"We played an excellent game in terms of team structure, organisation in terms of choosing the right moment in our offensive play. We were spot-on.
"But because of lack of concentration in that game we ended up conceding and lost that match. Then we went to play against Swallows, we went there confident that we could do it and we got the results. There is a belief in the squad and we have the capabilities of making the team safe."
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