Leopards look to advance in Confed
African debutants Black Leopards of South Africa face a tougher task in the CafConfederation Cup preliminary round match this weekend having been held 1-1 at home by Motor Action of Zimbabwe, with Godfrey Moyo equalising for the Harare side in the closing minutes.
Promoted Leopards are anchoring the South African Premiership table with just two wins from 18 games and hope the second-tier African competition can bring a change of fortune.
Union Douala of Cameroon take a slender 1-0 away to Kallon FC of Sierra Leone. The Cameroonians stand alone among the 32 teams in this round having won Caf club competitions , they lifted the 1979 Champions Cup and the now defunct Cup Winners Cup two seasons later. But the club from the Atlantic city in central Africa are not the force of old and had to settle for a 1-0 home victory over Kallon courtesy of a Joel Babanda goal 15 minutes from time.
Kallon are owned by former Monaco and Inter Milan star Mohamed Kallon, who came on as a substitute in Douala, and goalkeeper Christian Caulker and striker Al Hadji Kamara featured for Sierra Leone in a midweek Cup of Nations tie. A Caulker blunder in the closing minutes gifted minnows Sao Tome e Principe a 2-1 first leg victory after Kamara had put the Leone Stars ahead on the island nation.
Royal Leopards of Swaziland are another club hoping to cause an upset as they enjoy home advantage over Zambian Air force club Red Arrows having forced a 0-0 draw in Lusaka two weeks ago. National team goalkeeper Mphikizuzi Dlamini made a series of superb saves to deny Arrows and Leopards hope he will be less active at home while arch predator Nxumalo Zweli seeks tie-clincing goals.
Contrasting tasks await leading east African clubs Simba of Tanzania and Gor Mahia of Kenya when they host Kiyovu Sport of Rwanda and Ferroviario Maputo of Mozambique respectively.
Simba look set for a second round date against Entente Setif of Algeria having held Kiyovu 1-1 with Mwinyi Kazimoto on target for the Tanzanians, but Gor (whose tie will now be played next weekend after they asked for postponement due to providing a number of players to the Kenya national team that played against Togo in mid week), are in serious trouble after a 3-0 thrashing in Maputo.
Newcomers Hwange of Zimbabwe are even better placed than Ferroviario as they also have a three-goal advantage plus home advantage over Jamhuri from the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar.
Preview by Cafonlie.com
