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Tinkler full of praise for Pirates

Cape Town - Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler praised his side's perseverance as they produced a gritty performance to see off Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.

The Buccaneers looked destined to suffer a defeat following the dismissal of defender Edwin Gyimah midway through the second half.

However, Tinkler's men managed to hold firm in the remainder of regulation time, before scoring two goals in extra time to book their place in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup.

Striker Tendai Ndoro broke the deadlock in the 110th minute, and the result was put beyond doubt four minutes later when midfielder Mpho Makola slotted home from inside the danger area.

The performance left Tinkler with plenty of positives to ponder as the Soweto giants look to end their campaign on a high, following a stuttering start to the campaign.

"We said from the beginning that we were playing the best team in the League currently - they're a very, very good team going forward with Billiat, Castro, Dolly, Kekana linking up the play well, Zwane - they're all a major threat going forward, and their movement is exceptionally good," Tinkler told SuperSport.

"But I thought we dealt with it very, very well. Brighton [Mhlongo] pulling off the saves - that's something I expect from him which is what he did today."

He added: "We knew the longer we could stay in the game, the more chances we could get to hit them on the counter and get that goal.

"It's not easy playing with 11 against them, and playing with ten was even more difficult, but I told them to persevere and our chances would come and we could catch them on the break, and that's exactly what happened."

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