Premier League champions Tusker yesterday qualified for the second round of the CAF Champions League after being held by Ethiopia's St Georges to a goalless draw in the second leg at the City Stadium yesterday.

The two teams had played to a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Addis Ababa last weekend. Tusker will now meet the winners of the match between Tunisia's Esperance and JS Tenne from Niger.

Tusker coach Jacob Mulei stuck to his defensive approach as he had said earlier but it nearly cost him dearly as the fleet-footed Ethiopians opened up the home team's defence with their patient and carefully crafted build-ups.

Tusker turned in another suspect performance which Mulei blamed on lack of match practice.

"I had said before that this was going to be a tactical game. There were several lapses in defence mainly due to not playing regularly and St George gave us a scare in the first half . This is the third competitive match we have played this season and I hope that the league will resume soon so that we can play more games before the second round," he said

St Georges took the game to Tusker from the start and dominated their hosts throughout the first half.

Getnet Notbaynor had the first chance of the game in the 3rd minute but headed wide with only Victor Onyango to beat. He struck the crossbar twice in the 16th minute as Tusker reeled under the Ethiopian onslaught.

The hosts' only noticeable response came in the 33rd minute through George Waweru whose long range free kick was punched back into play by St. Georges goalkeeper Tadiwos Getachew.

They were more collected in the second half with the introduction of William Odidi and Frankline Obare. Odidi, however, wasted Tusker's best chance of the match in the 42nd minute when Getachew flung himself at his feet to save with fans already on their feet.

Yilma Tesfayo had a goal late in the second half disallowed for offside. Mulei said he was happy his team had qualified but admitted the Ethiopians gave them a dificult.