Carling Knockout, Last 16 | 25 October 2026
Richards Bay’s hopes of a cup run were extinguished on Sunday evening as a buoyant Sekhukhune United ran out 3-1 winners at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium to reach the Carling Knockout quarter-finals. The Natal Rich Boyz could not match the Limpopo side’s second-half surge, though they left the pitch with a genuine grievance after a first-half penalty appeal went unrewarded. Nqaba Xulu’s late strike offered a flicker of belief, but it came too late to spark a comeback. For a club still searching for form, it was another evening that ended in disappointment.
A Turning Point Denied
The tie was goalless at the break, but Richards Bay felt it should not have been. In the 42nd minute Ngoanamello Rammala appeared to be brought down inside the box, only for referee Xola Sitela to award a free-kick outside the area instead of pointing to the spot. It was a decision that could have changed the complexion of the contest, and the visitors trudged in at the interval level but aggrieved — a feeling that would sharpen as the night unfolded.
Sekhukhune Take Control
Babina Noko found their rhythm after the restart. Chibuike Ohizu broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute, and as Richards Bay chased the game they were picked off late on, Thabang Makubo and Bethuel Muzeu adding further goals in the closing stretch to settle matters. Xulu pulled one back in the 84th minute to briefly narrow the gap, but with time against them the visitors could not build on it, and Sekhukhune saw out a comfortable passage into the last eight.
The Road Ahead
The defeat leaves head coach Dimitar Pantev’s side out of the Carling Knockout and needing to arrest a difficult run. Attention now shifts to the Betway Premiership, where a fixture against Kruger United on 31 October offers Richards Bay the chance to bounce back to winning ways and steady a season that has yet to find its footing. The Bulgarian will know that results, not performances, are the currency that counts from here.
