Rich Boys climb up to second after walloping Chiefs

Richards Bay didn’t show any mercy to their KwaZulu-Natal neighbours, Bizana Pondo Chiefs as they thrashed them 4-1 in a GladAfrica Championship match at Umhlathuze Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon.

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Chiefs have found the going tough in their first campaign in the first division and are currently bottom of the standings.

And while the club is originally from he Eastern Cape, they are temporarily based in Durban and play their home games at King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi.

But Simo Dladla’s Natal Rich Boys didn’t care about all of that as they piled more misery upon Tshepo Motsoeneng’s Lions who are proving to be rather tame and harmless. In 11 games, the Lions have only collected nine points off two wins, three draws and six defeats.

While there is still a long way – 19 games to be precise – to go, Chiefs need to start winning games and collecting full points if they are avoid being one season visitors in the Championship.

Things will be more difficult in the second round when the teams at the top are seriously vying for promotion and playoffs positions.

In Sunday’s game, the Lions had a bad start, with Zamile Daniel scoring an own goal to give the Rich Boys the lead on the 43rd minute.

But four minutes into the second half, things looked up for Chiefs as they were awarded a penalty which Sibusiso Ngcobo converted to level scores at 1-1.

But this rather served as some form of wake up call for the Rich Boys who went on a rampage and put their visitors to the sword. Bay were also awarded a penalty in the 70th minute and Thabo Maphakisa made no mistake with the spot kick, putting it away to help the Rich Boys regain their one goal advantage.

Six minutes to the end, and with Chiefs trying to get an equaliser and eke out at least a point off the game, Moses Mthembu made it even more difficult for their visitors as he scored a third.

The fourth goal came right at the death as Bayzel Goldstone scored in the 89th minute, putting paid to any hopes for Chiefs and ensuring his side the three points that took them to second place, equal on points with Sekhukhune United who are top of the league.

Bayzel is former Kaizer Chiefs and Bloemfontein Celtic defender, Garry Goldstone’s son. In another game, also played on Sunday, Pretoria Callies moved towards the holly land in the Championship after beating Cape Town All Stars 2-1 away at Parrow Park Stadium in Cape Town.

The win pushed veteran coach, Sammy Througton’s side to fifth position with 18 points, two off the top position. Callies have enjoyed a dream start so far.

Championship action takes a break this week with the Nedbank Cup where, thanks to Safa being unable to provide the usual eight teams allocated to them in the competition, all first division teams are competing.

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