Winning starts for Samartex, Nsoatreman FC in Africa club competitions
FC Samartex and Nsoatreman FC began their debut campaigns in continental club competitions on inspiring notes, yesterday, registering important wins in their respective competitions.
In Cameroon, Samartex recorded a lone goal win against Victoria United in the CAF Champions League competition.
The historic goal was fetched by Emmanuel Mamah just two minutes into the second half of the all action game.
And in Accra, Nsoatreman whitewashed 10-man Chadian side, Elect-Sports, 3-0 in front of their fans to kick-start what is expected to be a successful journey in the second tier CAF club competition – Confederations Cup.
Both wins leaves Samartex and Nsoatreman in very good positions ahead of the second leg encounters.
A brace from Abdul Rahaman Mohammed and one by Kwabena Adu Meider was all the Nsoatre club needed to open their historic account at the continental stage.
Head Coach of Nsoatreman FC, Yaw Preko, and his charges appeared determined from the start and for better part of the exchanges, they dominated and threatened their opponents several times.
Ironically, it was the Chadian side that nearly broke the deadlock through Frederick Djoeta in the 17th minute but his header flew over the bar.
Five minutes later, Nsoatteman had their first real attempt at goal with Mohammed racing past the backline but he shot straightat goalkeeper Mahamat Atteib Bechir.
Mohammed had a similar opportunity and again made a hero out of Bechir who blocked the goal-bound strike.
But Bechir would not be third time lucky as Mohammed rose to head past him on the 30th minute for the opener.
Once the opener was registered, it took the steam out of the visitors’ play as the Nsoatreman lads controlled and increased the tally just three minutes after.
Two minutes later, Mohammed grabbed his second and his side’s third goal to put the game beyond the visitors.
Coach Yaw Preko pushed his charges for more goals but the visitors were saved by the halftime whistle.
In the second half, Elect-Sports bounced back stronglyand pushed more men forward in search of a goal, but that exposed them at the back as the Ghanaians take advantage of the spaces left behind to cause more troubles but were not successful.
In the 51st minutes, Nsoatreman broke free with Michael Ballack Ackacoming face to face with the onrushing Bechir who handled the ball outside his goal area for a straight red card.
However, the one-man advantage did little to scare the visitors who surprisingly ended the game as the better side.
In the other games, Moroccan giants, Raja Casablanca, secured a crucial victory in Niger, while Young Africans triumphed with a 4-0 away win over FC Vitalo in the first-leg of the first preliminary round of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League on Saturday.
In the Champions League competition, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia earned a 2-1 victory on the road against Burundi’s FC Vitalo while Namibia’s Africa Stars also claimed a 1-0 win over Gaborone Galaxy of Botswana.
Raja Casablanca defeated GardeNationale 2-1 in Niger. Saber Bougrine opened the scoring for the Casablancans in the 20th minute, but their opponents equalised in the 37th minute. However, Marouane Zila restored Raja Casablanca’s lead in the 66th minute, securing a 2-1 win for the Moroccan club.
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY
