AFC leopards roar: Mude, Were strikes steer Ingwe into Nile Basin tournament quarter-finals

By GILBERT  WANDERA

Musa Mudde and Paul Were scored a goal each as AFC Leopards edged out Mbeya of Tanzania 2-1 in the on-going Nile Basin tournament in Sudan.

This was the second win for Leopards who now top Group ‘B’ in the competition to make it to the quarter-finals.

Mudde opened the scores for Leopards in the 10th minute before Were added another in the 40th minute.

Leopards were boosted by the arrival of team doctor Patrick Ngusale who arrived in the Sudanese capital on Sunday. The Kenyan side had played the first match without a team doctor and were forced to borrow one from  Police of Zanzibar.

In another match, Al-Merreikh fans shouted at their players shortly after the last whistle to express dissatisfaction over what they termed as “an embarrassing result” in a goalless draw against Victoria University during on Sunday evening.

Both the Sudanese fans and the players seem to have under estimated their opponents from Uganda who offered the best efforts to deny the home side a win. But Al-Merreikh’s elderly tactician Martin Otto Pfister, 76 confessed having played a strong and tactical side.

“They (Victoria University) tactically good, they denied us playing spaces and made our movements very limited”, said the German coach who has worked in Africa since early 90s.

The goalless draw registered Victoria University among the cup contenders as both clubs sailed into the knock out stages but still with a game at hand.

The tension packed match officiated by Kenya’s Andrew Otieno saw both clubs waste several chances. A total of nine yellow cards were given out in the 90 minutes of the game.

Malaki of South Sudan blanked Police of Zanzibar 3-0 to confirm their presence into the quarter finals. The Islanders, who lost their first game against Al-Merreikhby with the same margin, seem to have no option other than returning home after their last group stage match on Tuesday afternoon. At Shandi ground, Djibouti’s Dkhill FC lost their second consecutive game 2-1 to Ethiopia’s Defence.