Smiso Msomi
Richards Bay head coach Brandon Truter hopes the club’s recent success in cup competition can spark his side’s revival towards achieving their league ambitions.
The Natal Rich Boyz put on a gutsy performance and eventually triumphed as they eliminated Cape Town City via penalties in the quarter-finals of the Carling Knockout Cup on Saturday. The KwaZulu Natal-based outfit matched last season’s feat in the competition as they booked their spot in the last four.
Truter’s men have had somewhat of a slow start to the 2024/2025 campaign, having won just one of their first seven games in all competitions before meeting City. Given their 12th-place spot on the Betway Premiership standings and a difficult fixture against league-leading Orlando Pirates, Truter is desperate to ensure his ship stays afloat.
The former AmaZulu mentor lamented the difficulties around his side’s start to the season with fixtures but was positive about a turnaround.
“Two wins in the cup now, I would have changed it any day for three points or six points, that's our bread and butter,” he said.
“But so far in the league, in the seven games we've played, five of the top six of last season in terms of (Orlando) Pirates, Sekhukhune (United), Stellenbosch was third and Cape Town City now as well, we had Galaxy as well in the first game so it was a tough opening eight games so far.”
He further added, “I'm very confident that happy days are ahead.
“To just get first beyond these 10 games, and then I'm pretty sure we will kick off from there. We have Pirates on Tuesday and then we are finished with them for the rest of the season. So, it's looking good, the future is looking really good, especially with the progress we are making in this team."
Two of Richards Bay’s glaring issues this season have been their inability to create and convert goalscoring chances, as well as performing at the required level away from the King Zwelithini Stadium. Truter’s men have found the back of the net just twice this season, and both goals were via set pieces.
He couldn't help but point out his side’s deficiencies despite what was expected to be a jovial moment after the match against City.
“Any win you'll be happy about, but it's consistency, especially at home. Look, as much as we are happy and there's a lot of positives from the game, we can't dilute from the fact that we haven't scored a goal,” the coach explained.
“Goals are few and far between, and it comes from a set piece at the moment. It's an area of our concern, it's an area that we are working on. So, that's one of the challenges we are facing at the moment, but so far on the road, our losses have come on the road.”