Pirates beat Mounana 3-0 on Saturday to advance 5-2 on aggregate to the play-off round of the continental competition.
Kermit Erasmus stole the show with a hat-trick at Orlando Stadium, but Tinkler also reserved praise for his defence.
"I was happy with the performance of the team," Tinkler says. "There was a lot of tactical discipline, a high work-rate from both Kermit and [Thamsanqa] Gabuza.
"We knew their defence was their weakest point and we knew that if we apply high pressure it was going to be difficult for them.
"Defensively I think we were very good and probably it was our best performance in defence in a long time. I thought everybody at the back four from Thabo [Matlaba] to Siya [Sangweni] to Happy [Jele] and Ntsike [Nyauza] all had fantastic performances.
"Overall we can single out so many players. For the first time I can say this was a really fantastic performance from the team. It was a good result, we are moving to the next round. We are moving further in this competition which was our objective."