SuperSport United coach Eric Tinkler says he was pleased with his side’s great work ethic to come from behind and claim a 4-2 victory over Cape Town City in a penalty shootout on Saturday. 

Ronwen Williams proved to be the hero for Matsatsantsa after he saved two penalties to help his side clinch the MTN8 trophy in the final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Tinkler insists that his side showed great character to come back into the match, despite finishing the game with 10 men after Thabo Mnyamane was forced off the field through injury.

‘It was a hard match, to be honest, especially after we went one man down. When we just got ourselves into the game Thabo Mnyamane picked up an injury, from then on we were just defending for our lives,’ Tinkler told SuperSport TV after the game.

‘The boys showed great character the way they did, especially that last 30 minutes. We knew if we could hold on, Ronwen [Williams] will get us the trophy and that’s exactly what happened.

‘I thought we started well in the first half, to be honest. We got caught on the counter and they got that goal.

‘There were areas of our game that we tried to rectify at half-time, we changed the formation and got back into it. Then from there, it was just about holding on, to be honest. The one positive I take from this is the work ethic of the players, they were fantastic.’