Weird decision sinks NRB
THE match officials had to be escorted off the field on Saturday after they contrived to rob Richards Bay FC of a vital point in its struggle to avoid relegation.
With the score tied at 1-1 and NRB relentlessly pounding away at the Super Eagles’ goalmouth, the uMhlathuze Stadium visitors managed a breakaway and the ball was passed to a clearly offside forward.
The linesman raised his flag high, the defenders stopped…and the referee for reasons only known to himself overruled his colleague and waved play on, resulting in Eagles easily scoring with no defenders in sight.
Full time blew soon after and the officials faced a barrage of angry reaction from players, local supporters and, especially, NRB owner Jomo Biyela, who had to be physically restrained from approaching the referee.
And while the reaction can’t be condoned, it can be understood.
It meant Eagles rose four places, from 15th to 11th, while NRB dropped from 13th to 15th.
The implications of relegation are huge: the club is on the brink of leaving the NFD and could fold, meaning career players could lose their jobs.
Lost chances
That being said, the game was not lost on a single decision.
Richards Bay created more than 20 chances during the 90 minutes, half of which was against 10 men after Anver Esterhuizen was red-carded following a bad challenge.
They also gifted a late first half penalty to the visitors and keeper Xolani Ngcobo decided early, going the wrong was as the badly struck ball trickled into the opposite corner.
They did come right back with the goal of the game just before half time as Thabiso Nkoana slipped the ball behind the defence for Michael Gumede to squeeze the ball into the near corner.
He would have another terrific strike soon after the break, his thunderous drive cannoning off the far post.
The old tale of failing to put away scoring opportunities, combined with incredible luck from the heroic Eagles’ defence in a goal area that mostly resembled a pinball machine, compounded disappointment with anger for the fans who left the stadium as candidates for counselling.
Richards Bay FC now deep into relegation battle