Richards Bay head coach Kaitano Tembo was full of praise for how side defended against Orlando Pirates on Saturday afternoon.
The Natal Rich Boyz booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Carling Knockout after edging Pirates 5-4 on penalties after a goalless draw in extra-time.
Tembo said for a change they managed to have luck on their side, after admitting that the Soweto giants were a better team and suggested that hopefully the win will inspire them in league matches, where they are currently struggling.
READ | Pirates suffer surprise Carling Knockout elimination
"Well for a change I think it was a different game, with a different opponent, so it required very different demands. We had to play a little bit more without the ball and credit goes to the players, I think they worked their socks off," Tembo said on SuperSport TV.
"I just wish we can take this mentality and attitude into our league matches because we have shown what we can do. Playing against a team like Pirates and going for 120 minutes (without conceding), for me credit goes to players.
"For me I don't think it's that way (different mentality in league games). Even in our league matches I've seen us play better than this and still lose matches, where we dominate games but we still lose matches, we don't score goals. But today I think Pirates were a better team to be fair, they played well, but we denied them clear-cut opportunities," he said.
The former SuperSport United head coach continued and explained how they managed to shut out the Buccaneers.
"We played in a certain way that they don't get clear-cut chances. They had possession in areas that we were comfortable with," he went on.
"We wanted them to have possession in areas that they were not gonna hurt us and we knew that they will overload on the sides, with their full-backs and that ball behind, where we just needed to kill the space behind.
"And also the combinations because they also wanna penetrate through the middle, so we dealt with that. We knew that even if we play two hours I don't think anything was gonna change," he said.
You must be Sign In to read and post comments.
Click HERE to register!