Casric Stars head coach Joseph Mthombeni praised his team’s discipline and pride following their victory over Orlando Pirates.

The Motsepe Foundation Championship side booked their place in the next round of the Nedbank Cup after beating Pirates 5-4 on penalties.

Mthombeni highlighted the importance of sticking to the game plan, exploiting key moments, and maintaining composure against a strong, in-form opponent, while also celebrating the nerves and resilience of his players in critical situations, including the decisive penalty shootout.

“I told the boys, they mustn’t rush, be worried, they will have better ball position but the thing we needed to stick to our game plan, if you lose the game with pride I’ll be happy. It’s the first time I play in this field,” Mthombeni told SuperSport after the game.

“What I wanted to say is that whenever we play Betway friendly games we are always better, we will never be dominated like one team score more than two, I won’t even mention names.

“I was out against a very good team, very good coach a team that’s on-form. But I went and did my analysis on Wednesday when they played against Sundowns. I knew that somewhere somehow, they will get frustrated.

“If Pirates cannot get a goal in the critical moments, I know they get more frustrated. I wanted to say to the penalty takers they nearly killed me, I can’t believe I never eat the whole day, I’m going to eat.”