JOHANNESBURG: Sudanese club Al-Merreikh survived a scare in Nigeria Sunday to clinch a place in the African Confederation Cup final. Opponents Dolphin won the final-round Group B clash 3-0 in the southeast town of Calabar and had they scored twice more without reply would have made a sensational entry into the two-leg decider next month. Merreikh, the only Sudanese club to win an African Football Confederation (CAF) title, host CS Sfaxien of Tunisia in the first leg between Nov. 2-4 with the return match three weeks later. Dolphin needed to win 5-0 or by six goals if they conceded even one to displace Merreikh on the head-to-head rule and got an early boost when Togo defender Jean-Paul Abalo conceded an own goal. Wobo Uwazuoke converted a penalty to put 2005 Confederation Cup runners-up Dolphin 2-0 ahead by half-time and thank God Amaefule was successful from another spot kick midway through the second half. But there was no further scoring and Dolphin had to settle for finishing level on 10 points with Merreikh and restoring pride after a 6-1 drubbing in Omdurman. Sfaxien left it late to defeat Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 in South Africa and finish one point ahead of Tout Puissant Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who triumphed by the same score against Astres Douala in Cameroon. Veteran Zimbabwe striker Peter Ndlovu gave Sundowns an early lead as they sought revenge for a four-goal Group A mauling in Tunisia and Chadi Hammami did not equalize until eight minutes from full-time. Needing maximum points to be sure of remaining top of the standings, 2006 African Champions League runners-up Sfaxien snatched victory after 88 minutes through DR Congo striker Blaise Lelo Mbele. Another Congolese goal poacher, Mputu Mabi, raised his Confederation Cup tally to 10 from eight matches by scoring in each half for former African champions Mazembe after Hans Ossah gave Astres an early lead. Formed in 2004 after the African Cup Winners Cup and CAF Cup competitions were discontinued, the Confederation Cup has been won by Hearts of Oak of Ghana, FAR Rabat of Morocco and Etoile Sahel of Tunisia.
