Battling Bay talking tough

Sibongiseni Gumbi

Richards Bay FC may be languishing in the relegation zone in the National First Division but defender Misho Mtebule wants the team to be giant-killers in the Nedbank Cup. The Rich Boys captain said the Ke Yona is the right platform for them to introduce the new team to local football.

Richards Bay were formed after Thanda Royal Zulu were dissolved and had their Absa Premiership status sold to AmaZulu in June last year. The move did not go down well with supporters in the uMhlathuze area and the new team have not enjoyed the same support as Amabhubesi had.

“The supporters are starting to come back. We know they were hurt but we want to ensure they forget about the past and have new memories with us. The Nedbank Cup gives us that chance. It brings excitement and we have agreed that we want to go as far as we can. We want to be the giant-killers this year,” Mtebule told the Saturday Citizen.

Richards Bay easily disposed of ABC Motsepe League side Bloemfontein Young Tigers, beating them 5-0 in the first round, but will have a tougher assignment against Bloemfontein Celtic in the last-16.

The Rich Boys are 12th but are just a few points above bottom side Ubuntu Cape Town and are not safe from relegation yet.

Mtebule, however, is not worried about that as he feels they will easily move away from danger.

“We had a slow start because we had a lot of new players coming in,” he said. “We took a while to get used to each other but things have stabilised now.”

Richards Bay are away to provincial rivals and title-chasers Real Kings at 3.30pm.