Pirates were under pressure in the first stanza of their Nedbank Cup opener at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
However, Bucs striker Tendai Ndoro hit two unanswered goals after the break to send his team through to the last-16 of the lucrative competition.
“I thought we started well but we didn’t capitalise on our chances,” Tinkler told his club's official website. “Gift (Motupa) had a very good opportunity but couldn’t finish up. We had a couple of more chances… in fact, I think we could have scored more than one goal in the opening 15 minutes however as the first half went on, Chiefs had the ascendancy and began causing problems.
“They were creating chances and they were entering into the final third too often and that was a big worry for us on the bench. At the break I emphasised on the importance of taking back control of the match and fortunately the boys responded well to that half-time talk and started playing with more conviction… we scored and this bought back the confidence of the boys.”
The former Bafana Bafana midfielder reserved special praise for Man of the Match Ndoro.
“We have always known and respected Tendai’s abilities. Give him a chance in front of goal and he will bury it. Today I was particularly impressed with his work ethic… he didn’t stop running and always looked for the ball. That is a sign of confidence and this is the confidence we hope we can build on to end the season on a good note.”