Merreikh snatch late Confed Cup win
Al Merreikh of Sudan left it late to edge InterClube of Angola 1-0 this weekend in a CAF Confederation Cup matchday 1 showdown on Saturday.
Ahmed El Basha scored the winner in sauna-like Omdurman just four minutes from time to give the local club maximum points in Group A, which includes fellow Sudanese sides Al Ahly Shandy and Al Hilal.
El Basha has scored three of the four Merreikh goals in the second-tier African club competition this season after netting a brace in the play-off triumph over South African visitors Black Leopards.
The outcome maintained a pattern of home wins between the clubs with Merreikh and InterClube each victorious 2-0 in a 2011 CAF Champions League qualifier that the Luanda police team won on penalties.
African rookies Ahly and perennial campaigners Hilal meet late on Sunday in northern town Shandy and there is also a Group B fixture in Bamako between 2009 Confederation Cup winners Stade Malien and fellow Malians Djoliba.
Giant killers AC Leopards of Congo Brazzaville were held 1-1 by Moroccan visitors Wydad Casablanca with an early Eric Niemba goal for the home team cancelled by Abderrazak El Mnasfi on the hour mark.
