Gallants and Richards Bay eye winning restart to the year
As two sides lingering above the drop zone in the Betway Premiership, Marumo Gallants and Richards Bay will seek to get back to winning ways when they do battle at the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium on Saturday night.
Kick-off is at 8pm (CAT, GMT+2)
CURRENT FORM
Gallants head into their first fixture of the new year on the back of three consecutive league defeats, with their most recent being a 1-0 loss to Sekhukhune United at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on 28 December.
The Bloemfontein outfit also suffered a damaging 8-1 loss at the hands of Orlando Pirates last month in what was their heaviest defeat of the campaign.
With just three wins to their name all season, Gallants currently occupy 13th position with 10 points to their name after 11 matches played.
Join us for our first home match of 2025 as we light up the night at Dr. Molemela Stadium, Bloemfontein!
— MARUMO GALLANTS FC (@_Marumogallants) January 2, 2025
🗓 Date: Saturday , 4 January 2025
🕗 Kick-off: 20:00
🏟️ Dr Molemela Stadium, Bloemfontein#GallantsFirstMatch2025 #HomeGameVibes #risewithgallants pic.twitter.com/WgBVUxPZlh
Richards Bay have likewise battled to yield positive results recently and last saw out a 2-0 defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns on 28 December.
Prior to their game against the Brazilians, the Natal Rich Boyz bagged a 1-0 win against Golden Arrows, which happened to be their only victory of the 24/25 season so far.
As it stands, the KwaZulu-Natal side sit in 15th position after accumulating eight points from 12 games.
WHAT WAS SAID
Reflecting on his side’s performance chart so far, Richards Bay stand-in coach Ronnie Gabriel believes the club is suffering due to a lack of firepower in the attacking department.
“We need final third quality, players who can put the ball in the back of the net and conversion rate; that’s where we’re lacking,” Gabriel said.
“So we will have to continue to work hard. Remember, with this group, we have to be honest with ourselves. We have a lot of youngsters in our team, and we need to coach the youngsters.
“For us, we have to coach these boys every day, create training sessions to replicate the pressure of the game whereby there are more goal-scoring opportunities.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Marumo Gallants: Gabadinho Mhango – Now a veteran of PSL football, Mhango is yet to make a difference at Gallants this season. While the club are hoping to reignite their campaign, Mhango could look to take advantage of a defensively frail Richards Bay outfit this weekend.
Richards Bay: Somila Ntsundwana – The powerful winger has been a regular for Richards Bay this season and will once again be given free reign to produce the goods this weekend. With the Natal Rich Boyz in need of attacking inspiration, Ntsundwana has the ability to unlock the tightest of defences on his day.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Last two league results
2022/23 Richards Bay 0-0 Marumo Gallants
2022/23 Marumo Gallants 0-2 Richards Bay
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