Richards Bay coach Kaitano Tembo breathed a sigh of relief after he ended the club’s atrocious 19-match winless streak last Friday.
Bay beat Moroka Swallows 1-0 at Dobsonville Stadium when eSwatini international Justice Figareido scored in the second half to collect their first win in eight months, with the club’s last victory coming against Marumo Gallants on 14 January.
As much as it has been a struggle, they were the better team against Steve Komphela’s side and Sanele Barns should have composed himself better in the first half with the goal yawning in front of him, but he missed an empty net.
Tembo said the win will lift off the weight of pressure on his shoulders.
“Obviously it is a huge relief,” admitted Tembo.
“But like I said earlier on, in football you are as good as your last game and for us we have to try to win the next league game again, playing at home against Chippa United, which is very key.
“If we can get three wins under our belt, we can move ourselves away from where we are at the moment because nothing has changed. We are still second from bottom, we still need more points.
“Although this is a good result for us, at the same time it puts us under pressure to win the next one.”
Bay are second from bottom with five points after six matches, five ahead of bottom side Cape Town Spurs, who have lost all their matches so far.
“Having gone 20 (sic.) games without winning, it can also affect the players’ mentally,” added Tembo.
“I think this result will do a lot in terms of building a belief in the team. But I thought for me what was important was the performance because sometimes when you continue playing well, the results will take care of themselves and we showed that.
“But there is still a long way to go.”
Bay return to action on Tuesday when they will host Chippa United at King Zwelithini Stadium.
