It’s payback time, Bay skipper warns Stellies

Richards Bay skipper Simphiwe Mcineka hasn’t hidden that they view Saturday's Carling Knockout semifinal against high-flying Stellenbosch as a chance for revenge, since Stellies have already beaten them in the league this season.

The game is at King Zwelithini Stadium (3pm).

Stellenbosch, who head into this game in a blistering league form, beat Bay 2-1 nearly four weeks ago in the DStv Premiership on home turf. Bay and Stellies have contrasting league forms with the former having won twice from 13 attempts this term, while the latter have already amassed six league victories.

“We are going into this Carling Knockout game against Stellenbosch still wounded because they beat us in the league. This is a very good chance for us for revenge. We are aware that they are a good side and we respect them but playing at home should give us that upper hand,” Mcineka said.

Mcineka also vowed Natal Rich Boys won’t wait for Stellies to come at them but they’ll try to be as adventurous as they can. Bay beat two Soweto clubs in Moroka Swallows and Orlando Pirates to get this far in the Carling Knockout.

“We will take the game to them. It’s a cup game and in cup games there’s no need to sit back and absorb pressure… you must initiate everything if you want to win this kind of game,” the Bay skipper added.

Mcineka doesn’t necessarily think Bay are a bad team, saying the only thing that stands between them and winning games is bluntness upfront. The side’s skipper is happy that they managed to avoid conceding in their last two games against Cape Town Spurs and Pirates.

“It’s not that we’ve been performing badly in the league but our main downfall has been that we don’t score our chances. We have been working very hard to make sure that we take our chances going forward. At the back we were also not as tight as we should be but we’ve rectified that… you can see that we managed two clean sheets in our last two matches,” Mcineka stated.