Casric Stars stunned tournament favouirtes Orlando Pirates to eliminate them from the last-16 of the Nedbank Cup with a 4-3 penalty shootout victory at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday evening.
The second-tier side that’s currently fourth in the standings have been flirting with promotion in recent seasons, with two play-off finishes in the last three seasons.
And they were well worth the fight as they showed tactical discipline and the some bravery in attack against their more illustrious opposition who are chasing their third domestic cup of the season, having won the MTN8 and Carling Knockout Cup already.
They managed to take the Buccaneers into the break goalless, which would have concerned the home team coach Abdeslam Ouaddou – who admitted pre-match their lack of natural finishers up front is a slight concern.
It went on for two hours without either side able to break the deadlock and the game eventually went to penalties, which proved a major feat for Bucs Mthombeni’s side against a full-strength Buccaneers outfit who they went on to beat 4-3 in a dramatic shootout.
Nkosinathi Sibisi, Mpho Chabatsane and Nkosikhona Ndaba missed for the Buccaneers, while Zebulon Mtshweni scored the deciding penalty for Casric to silence the Orlando Amstel Arena.
It’s another major upset after Mamelodi Sundowns were knocked out by TS Galaxy, while defending champions Kaizer Chiefs were already dumped out by Stellenbosch FC.