Egyptian duo Enppi and Haras Al-Hedoud stumbled in the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup, Ahmed Morsy reports After slumping to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to AS Vita Club of DR Congo, Enppi's hopes of reaching the Confederation Cup semi-final were dealt a major blow on Sunday. The DR Congo's side took the lead after nine minutes via a goal from Ilifo Ilonga. They doubled the score in the 27th minute with a shot from the edge of the area by Mbangi Ndaya. Striker Eric Bokanga completed the rout in stoppage time to hand Enppi their third defeat in four group-stage games. Although they revived their hopes of reaching the CAF Confederation Cup semis after their 3-1 victory over AS Vita Club of DR Congo, the petroleum team have to win their remaining two matches if they are to keep alive hopes of booking a last-four berth. They currently lie at the bottom of Group A with three points, six behind leaders ES Sétif of Algeria and three adrift of Vita and Angola's Santos. Enppi are scheduled to face Santos on 12 September before concluding their group- stage campaign against Sétif eight days later. In the same group, Algerian champions ES Sétif made a strong bid for a place in the last four of the Confederation Cup with a 6-0 routing of Santos on Friday. Sétif produced one of their best outings in recent times to rout the Angolan debutantes and keep alive their hopes in the competition. The win was the heaviest defeat for Santos FC, debuting at the continental stage. For a club that shattered the continental ambitions of Egyptian giants Ahli, there were completely out of sorts against the Northern Algeria based club. In Group B, another Egyptian team, Haras Al-Hedoud, slipped to third place after suffering a 2-0 defeat at Stade Malien in Mali in their clash on Sunday. Sidibe Abdoulaye put the hosts in front seven minutes before the break when Al-Hedoud keeper Mathurin Kameni failed to deal with his weak shot from inside the area. A defensive lapse allowed Bagayoko Ousmane to double the Malian side's lead in the 73rd minute. Al-Hedoud pushed forward to narrow the gap but barely created clear-cut opportunities. Their only chance fell to striker Ahmed Salama who saw his header denied by the post. Egyptian Cup holders Al-Hedoud have four points from as many games, four behind leaders Stade Malien and three adrift of Angola's Primeiro de Agosto with two matches remaining. Al-Hedoud were held in their previous game to a 1-1 draw by Stade Malien at Max Stadium. In the other group match, Primeiro de Agosto revived their continental ambitions with a 3-1 win over Bayelsa United of Nigeria in a Confederation Cup Group A clash on Saturday. The result came as refreshing news to Angolan football fans after ES Sétif had humiliated Santos. The first and second placed clubs after the round-robin will qualify for the semi- finals with the eventual winners advancing to the final.
