Richards Bay sneak into CKO semis after CT City win
Richards Bay defeated Cape Town City 5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in a Carling Knockout quarterfinal match at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Therefore, the Natal Rich Boys advanced to the league cup semifinals for the first time in the club's history and they will now travel to Gauteng where they are scheduled to take on Orlando Pirates in a Betway Premiership clash on Tuesday.
The Citizens, on the other hand, bowed out of the cup competition and they will only play their next competitive match after the upcoming Fifa break when they host Polokwane City in a Betway Premiership encounter on 27 November.
The Natal Rich Boys were happy to sit back and attempt to catch the Citizens on the counter-attack. Goalkeeper Darren Keet had to come out to deny Ntlonelo Bomelo from close range in the 23rd minute.
Keet, who was the busier of the two keepers in the first stanza, produced a fantastic save to deny Siyabonga Dube in first-half stoppage time - tipping a thunderous shot over the crossbar and the score was 0-0 at halftime.
The Citizens came back an improved side after the break with Amadou Soukouna forcing keeper Ian Otieno into producing a fine save in the 65th minute. Otieno then tipped Kayden Francis' powerful shot over the crossbar in the 75th minute.
However, there were no goals in regulation time and the match went into extra-time. Richards Bay were reduced to 10 players in the last minute of extra-time when Langelihle Mhlongo was shown a straight red card and ultimately, the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
Richards Bay went on to emerge as 5-4 winners over City on penalties after Siyabonga Dube, Thamsanqa Mkhize and Francis failed to convert their penalties during the enthralling penalty shootout.
Richards 0
City 0
RICHARDS BAY XI: Otieno, Dube, Ndaba, Allan (Mabua 105'+5), Mcineka, Mthethwa (Mhlongo 91'), Gumede (Ntsundwana 72'), Mthembu, Bomela (Figuareido 59'), Sithebe (Sibanyoni 86'), Ndelu (Mohlamme 59')
CAPE TOWN CITY XI: Keet, Mkhize, Nyama (Dondolo 61'), Cupido, Gordinho, Mokotjo, Domingo (Tijueza 87'), Amato (Makaringe 91'), Gonzalez (Sereets 91'), Rhodes (Francis 72'), Soukouna (Goedeman 87').