Wits showed good character to come from behind twice in the match – once in normal time and again in the penalty shootout – and advance to the semi-finals, where they will face Cape Town City later this month.
Despite the carnage that took place at the Bidvest Stadium, ending with a total of six sending offs including players and coaches, Hunt was happy with what he saw in their first competitive test of the 2017/18 season.
“I thought we did great. We were 2-0 down in normal time, with a man down, and then came back and then went 2-0 down in the shootout and came back, so we were dead,” Hunt tells snl24.com/kickoff.
“I thought we played very well. Even with 10 men we didn’t look like we were losing the game, we showed great resilience – that’s the most important thing.
“We’ll be tested throughout the season, no doubt about it, so that determination was a good sign. Obviously not happy about the goals we conceded because, to be fair, they were really soft.”
Despite being sent off for a dangerous challenge on Siphelele Magubane just over 20 minutes into his debut, Montenegrin defender Slavko Damjanovic did enough to impress Hunt, who felt the straight red card was a bit harsh.
“I thought Slavko was a bit unfortunate to get sent off,” he says. “I thought he was good, he was feeling his way into the game and, obviously, to go in there [for the challenge] was clumsy.
“Does it deserve a red card? It’s all debatable. When a guy is lying down they [officials] make a decision and it’s an emotional one, but the foot was high – no doubt about it.
“But I mean I saw a whole lot of bad tackles that went unpunished, so that’s the way it goes.”
The reigning PSL Coach of the Year was also pleased with what he saw of European returnees Daylon Claasen and Steven Pienaar, both of whom he believes will be of great value to the team this season.
“Daylon was good, fantastic. Obviously the pitch didn’t help us, there were a few times when he hit a bobble and hurt his knee a bit, but he showed good energy, good enterprise – a very good player, he’ll do well for us,” he adds.
“Steven obviously came a bit later than everybody into pre-season so he’s a little behind everybody, but he’s got the quality, hasn’t he? I mean, you saw the few touches he had, it was fantastic.
"He’ll add value right through the season, there’s no doubt about that, that’s why we signed him. But he’ll get there."