Why we hosted Chiefs at uMhlathuze - Richards Bay coach | OneFootball

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Bay coach explains uMhlathuze decision for Chiefs game

Photo: Papi Zothwane

Richards Bay co-coach Papi Zothwane has shed light on why the club opted to host Kaizer Chiefs at the 10,500-seater uMhlathuze Sports Complex on Tuesday.

The Natal RichBoyz stunned the Soweto giants courtesy of Thulani Gumede's solitary goal, to move up to ninth on the Betway Premiership table, having picked up 23 points in 19 games.

While many clubs would have prioritized the financial aspects of hosting a club of Chiefs' stature, the KwaZulu-Natal side chose to maximise results.

The Richards Bay mentor says the game was hosted in the smaller capacity venue to retain their home ground advantage, and to give back to the faithful residents of uMhlathuze.

“The players know what's expected, I think we've only lost two games since we've started playing here, so whether it's Chiefs or Pirates, people of uMhlathuze deserve these kind of games. We can't take away our home ground advantage and play in Durban,” said Zothwane.

"I think we must give credit to the team [club hierarchy] for bringing Chiefs here and it works in our favour in terms of the support and we always play for our fans because we don't want to disappoint them.

"Even our players today [Tuesday] knew that as much as there can be yellow jerseys around, we play for our fans, so they know how important it is.

Richards Bay return to action with a clash against log leaders Orlando Pirates at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Wednesday, 11 March.