Cape Town - Chippa United recorded their third win in a row in their 2-1 victory over Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday. Moreover, newly-promoted Richards Bay are second on the Premiership standings after 11 games.
Year upon year, the Chilli Boys remain in the top-flight despite structural instability and the regular sacking of coaches. On paper, it seems like their status is always a recipe for relegation yet they survive year in, year out and preserve their status.
The Eastern Cape-based team have capitalised not because controversial chairperson Siviwe Mpengesi is doing something others in his position are not doing, but because the mediocre quality of football played by rival teams has made his team look better than they actually are. Actually if Chippa focused on building a long-team vision and giving a coach time to imprint his vision, they could actually be aiming for a solid top-half-of-the-table finish and qualification for the MTN8.
With there being a gulf in class between log-leaders Sundowns and the rest of the pack, second place in the league is really a contest for the team that wants it the most. We have seen over the last two seasons how this position ended up going to Cape Town City and prior to that AmaZulu. The structurally unstable Royal AM were also in the running for second place for the majority of last season, before a late season decline led to them having to settle for third spot.
While Richards Bay can take credit for their performances, the fact that they are second is not surprising and also indicates that the league is not in a exactly healthy position. Richards Bay would likely have not even expected to be second at this stage. Their aim this season would have and probably still is to avoid relegation. This is after all their first ever season in the top flight.
The brand of football played by the KwaZulu-Natal based side has not exactly been impressive, but they have capitalised by virtue of getting the basics correct more than their rivals in the league bar Sundowns. They have scored just seven goals but due to them getting the basics right at the back, even more so than Sundowns, they have only conceded three goals which has been the key ingredient behind their performances.
@EshlinV