Casric hope lessons taken from Chiefs defeat spark title bid

Having declared his affection for Kaizer Chiefs at the media conference leading up to the game, Casric Stars coach Bucs Mthombeni reiterated that he put his attachment to Amakhosi aside in Sunday's Nedbank Cup last 16 defeat at FNB Stadium.

Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana converted from the spot to put Chiefs ahead in the 11th minute before Casric levelled matters courtesy of Kgomotso Mosadi two minutes after the hour-mark. Coming off the bench, Ashley du Preez netted the winner a minute after the Motsepe Foundation Championship side had equalised, earning Chiefs a spot in the quarterfinals via a 2-1 scoreline.

"It's not a secret that I grew up as a Kaizer Chiefs fan, but I put that aside and came here as Casric coach,'' Mthombeni insisted after the game.

The Casric coach still wished Amakhosi good fortune in the Ke Yona cup, highlighting the lessons they picked up from the clash as they aim to clinch promotion to the Premiership. Casric are third on the second-tier's table with 43 points, three behind leaders Polokwane City after 22 games. Coincidentally, Mthombeni's men face Polokwane tomorrow at Peter Mokaba Stadium (3.30pm).

"Congratulations to Chiefs. Chiefs are a big team. I wish them the best of luck in this tournament going forward. We learnt a lot from this game. Chiefs moved the ball quicker than us, for example; that's one thing I learnt. We can't score a goal and concede three minutes later. The players just dropped their heads, we must rectify that as well. I learnt that if you score a goal you must stay disciplined,'' Mthombeni stated.

"Now we need to focus on the league. We're playing No 1 [Polokwane] on Wednesday. We will take the positives out of this game and try to fight very hard in the league so that we can have a chance to win the championship. We have eight games to play and anything can still happen."

Fixtures (all at 3.30pm)

Today: Spurs v Baroka, Athlone; Magesi v Leopards, Peter Mokaba Stadium; Rovers v La Masia, Olen Park; AmaTuks v Lions, Tuks

Tomorrow: Polokwane v Casric, Peter Mokaba; Callies v Tshakhuma, Lucas Moripe; Uthongathi v All Stars, Princess Magogo Stadium; VFA v JDR, Thohoyandou.