Royal AM head coach John Maduka has admitted that they were fortunate not to be "punished" by Kaizer Chiefs for their mistakes after their goalless draw.
Thwihli Thwahla competed well against Chiefs but their hard work was nearly undone by mistakes at the back, including that of goalkeeper Xolani Ngcobo but Amakhosi were not clinical enough.
Maduka says they knew the Glamour Boys will let them have the ball so they can pounce on counter-attacks and that they were ready for such a tactical battle.
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"Very tactical game, they had their moments, we had our moments, first-half we knew that it's a team that is very dangerous on transition whenever they win the ball," Maduka told SuperSport TV.
"So they allowed us to have the ball in our defensive area so that when we try to go forward, as soon as they get the ball, they go forward, which I think first-half we did very well.
"Again we made some mistakes we could have been punished because they've got good players going forward but we also had our moments because whenever they go forward, they go forward with numbers and leave the wide areas open.
"Which in the first-half we did manage to use that. I think (Mfundo) Thikazi, (Hopewell) Cele had opportunities. Second-half more of an open game, they took the game to us, we sat there but we had moments that whenever we come out we managed to get those chances (but) we were not sharp enough in front of goal," he said.
The Malawian tactician also admitted that they started to look better going forward after they introduced striker Sedwyn George in the second-half, who could hold the balls for them a little longer.
"Yes, it's expected and when we put George we knew that we wanted him to hold the ball s little bit longer so that we allow (Kabelo) Mahlasela, (Hopewell) Cele, (Sabelo) Sithole, all those to be able to join because I think that's one thing we did not do it right in the first-half," he said.
"Whenever we had the ball going forward we could not keep it longer, it ended up coming back quickly to us. (But) second-half we had those moments because George could hold on to the ball a little bit longer and allow us to join him and get into those good scoring situations."