EGYPTIAN teams Ismaili and Ahli took a step closer in their respective African club football tournaments following victories in the third round first leg matches played over the weekend. In the Confederation Cup, Ismaili beat Green Buffaloes of Zambia 2-1 in Alexandria. The Buffaloes' Morgan Hanjema surprised all with the first goal before Abdullah El-Said levelled for Ismaili 11 minutes from time. Omar Gamal scored the winner for Ismaili just before the end, his stoppage time goal keeping Ismaili's hopes of qualifying to the next stage on course. Ismaili's new French technical manager and former Guinea coach Patrice Neveu was confident of victory. "The opponents were not an easy prey. I had hoped for more goals but they have some very good defenders." In the same tournament, Dolphines of Nigeria, the 2004 losing finalists, managed a lone goal victory over Hassania Agadir of Morocco. Ivorian side Issia Wazi produced the shocker of the weekend beating last year's CAF Champions League finalists, CS Sfaxien, by a lone goal. Boni Wilfred's 45th minute strike separated the two sides. Swiss coach of Sfaxien Michel Decastle was unperturbed by the defeat, promising to kick out the Ivorians in the second leg in Sfax. "It will be difficult for Issia to come to our premises and beat us with a goal margin," he declared. Cameroon side Union Douala survived an early scare by Kwara United of Nigeria. Chukwuma put the visitors in front in the 13th minute before Sam Nkwelle equalised four minutes later. The second leg matches are fixed for 20-22 April. CAF Confederation Cup results Atraco (Rwanda) 2-2 Gaouafel Gafsa (Tunisia) ASO Chlef (Algeria) 1-0 Al-Merreikh (Sudan) Issia Wazi (Côte d'Ivoire) 1-0 CS Sfaxien (Tunisia) Benfica Luanda (Angola) 3-0 Astres Douala (Cameroon) Etoile Filante (Burkina Faso) 2-0 Mwana Africa (Zimbabwe) Dolphins (Nigeria) 1-0 Hassania Agadir (Morocco) Union Douala (Cameroon) 1-1 Kwara Utd (Nigeria) In the African Champions League, Ahli, the defending champions were held 2-2 against South Africa's Sundowns after leading 2-0. It was the shock of their lives when striker Jose Torrealba grabbed a late equaliser for Sundowns to hold Ahli to a 2-2 draw in their Champions League third round first leg played over the weekend in Pretoria. Ahli were on the verge of securing a 2-1 victory till the 89th minute when the Venezuelan born striker pulled even for the South Africans. Mohamed Barakat marked his return from a long-standing injury to score a vital away goal for the Egyptians. Midfielder Barakat, voted the competition's best player two years ago, opened the scoring for Ahli after 28 minutes before Angola international Flavio Amadou doubled the lead early in the second half 10 minutes after the interval. The "Brazilians" clawed their way back into the game with goals from defender Oscar Ntwagae and Torrealba later in the second half. Ahli's Portuguese coach Manuel Jose attributed his team's draw due to the loss of concentration by his players during the most important stages of the game. "My players weren't at their best and they lost concentration during the last 20 minutes which cost us a lot," he said. But his counterpart Gordon Igesund pointed fingers at luck for the result, despite fighting back from two goals. "With more luck we could have won this game. We created a lot of chances. Anyway we have a second chance and we will have to go to Egypt to win." Though he could not end the unbeaten run of the defending champions, he said, "It's in our hands and I think we proved to ourselves that they can easily be beaten." The second leg matches are scheduled for 20-22 April. The winners of the two-legged encounters advance to the group stage of the competition. In other results: Nasarawa United (Nigeria) 3-0 Al-Hilal (Sudan) Maranatha Fiokpo (Togo) 0-0 Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) Etoile (Congo) 3-1 Al-Ittihad (Libya) ASEC (Cote d'Ivoire) 2-0 Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) Esperance (Tunisia) 3-0 Young Africans (Tanzania) TP Mazembe (Congo) 1-0 FAR Rabat (Morocco) Cotonsport Garoua (Cameroon) 1-0 JS Kabylie (Algeria) Meanwhile, the draw for the All-Africa Games football matches, to be played in Algeria in July, was held in Algiers Tuesday. The competition will be held as follows: Men's football Group A: Ghana, South Africa, Tunisia, Gabon, Cameroon, Botswana Group B: Senegal, Guinea, Algeria, Egypt, Zambia, Mozambique Women's football Group A: Zambia, South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia Group B: Algeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana
