Dladla believes in a strong start to season

Richards Bay co-coach Pitso Dladla has laid bare their plan to bag as many points in the first half of the season before other teams wake up in the second period.

Rookies Bay clinched their fourth league win of the season when they beat KZN foes Royal AM 1-0 at Chatsworth Stadium on Tuesday. Luvuyo Memela scored the only goal of the match to give Natal Rich Boys maximum points.

“Our aim is to collect as many points as we can now in the first round of the season. Many teams are still working on getting right combinations because they bought many players whereas we kept the core of last season’s team. So we must capitalise on the fact that many teams are still building before the second round of the season whereby most of the team would have gelled,” Dladla explained.

Dladla, who steers the Bay ship alongside Vasili Manousakis, also emphasised the significance of remaining humble as they continue to punch above their weight in their maiden season in the DStv Premiership.

“It’s very, very important for us to remain grounded. By nature, we’re a humble team because even when we were on top of the log in the second tier last season we were always humble and that helped us to eventually gain promotion. I know I am comparing apples and oranges because in the second tier we were gunning for the championship and here we only aim to finish in a respectable position,” Dladla said.

Dladla expects his high-profile duo of Ntsikelelo Nyauza and Memela to hit top gear once they are fully fit, having missed pre-season training upon being let go by Orlando Pirates and AmaZulu in the middle of the off season.

“It’s not a secret that Memela and Nyauza didn’t have pre-season. So we’re managing. They are gradually  getting to the maximum level of fitness. Once they’re hundred percent fit, imagine what they’ll give us because they’re already doing wonders even when they are not yet there as far as fitness is concerned,” Dladla said.