PIC: Casric Stars have reached their first Nedbank Cup semi-final

Casric Stars will play in a first-ever Nedbank Cup semi-final after consecutive giant-killing acts against Orlando Pirates and AmaZulu on their way to the last four.
They are away to Durban City, whom they face at Chatsworth Stadium on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off 15h00).
Here is a round-up of their Nedbank Cup history in numbers.

1 – Stars have been involved in a single penalty shoot-out in the Nedbank Cup and won it. They defeated Pirates 5-4 via spot-kicks after playing to a 0-0 draw in this year’s Last 16.

2 – Stars are playing in their second season of the Nedbank Cup, having debuted in 2023. On that occasion they reached the Last 16 before losing 2-1 to Kaizer Chiefs.

2 – Stars have faced Durban City twice before, both in the Motsepe Foundation Championship last season. City won 2-1 at home, but Stars won 1-0 in KwaMhlanga.

2 – Stars coach Joseph ‘Bucs’ Mthombeni is one of two owners who also double up as tacticians for their sides in this year’s Nedbank Cup semi-finals. Milford owner-coach Xanti Pupuma is also leading his team from the dugout.

3 – Stars have kept three clean sheets in their five Nedbank Cup matches, including shutting out Pirates (0-0). The others were against Mkhambathi (4-0) and Army Rockets (3-0).

3 – Kgomotso Mosadi is the leading scorer for Stars in the Nedbank Cup with three goals. All of his strikes came in the 2023 edition. Thuso Mogale is the leading scorer this season with two goals.

4 – The club’s biggest win in the Nedbank Cup was their 4-0 success against third-tier Mkhambathi in the Last 32 in 2023.

5 – Stars have played just five Nedbank Cup matches to date, winning three of those outright to go with a draw and a single loss to Chiefs in 2023. They claimed the win after their lone draw on penalties when they ousted Pirates.

5 – Stars and Milford FC are hoping to become the fifth second-tier sides to reach the Nedbank Cup final since 2008, after Mpumalanga Black Aces (2008), University of Pretoria (2009), Black Leopards (2011) and TS Galaxy (2019). The latter are the only ones to have lifted the trophy.

6 – All five of Stars’ previous Nedbank Cup fixtures have been away from home … and they are on the road again against Durban City. The odds of being drawn away six games in a row are very long …

7 – There have been seven different scorers for Stars in their five Nedbank Cup matches – Kgomotso Mosadi (3 goals), Thuso Mogale (2), Mumuni Abubakar, Decide Chauke, Ofentse Kgosana, Siyabonga Nkosi and Mfundo Thikazi.

10 – Stars have scored 10 goals in five Nedbank Cup games, a ratio of exactly two per game. They have conceded three times. They have only once been kept scoreless, in their 0-0 draw with Pirates.

330 – Two players have been ever-presents for Stars in the Nedbank Cup this season. Goalkeeper Tshigwana Mthombeni, the son of owner-coach Bucs Mthombeni, has played all 330 minutes, as has winger Teboho Lekhatla.